Wednesday, September 17, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
Northwind expands wind farm in Ilocos Norte. THE developer of the first wind farm in the Philippines and Southeast Asia has commenced with the expansion of its wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte.
Ferdinand Dumlao, Northwind Power Development Corp. chairman, told reporters that the company has commissioned the second phase of its wind project in the said province two weeks ago.
The 24.75-megawatt Bangui Bay wind farm is the country’s largest renewable energy project.
The expansion of the project, Dumlao said, will entail the addition of 8.33 megawatts to the Bangui Bay wind farm’s present capacity, which the company earlier scheduled for completion this month.
The company tapped a $13.1-million loan from Danish International Development Agency (Danida) in October last year for the expansion project.
The Danida facility the company tapped comes with a guarantee from the Philippine Export Import Credit Agency.
Dumlao said that Northwind is currently looking for funding sources for another proposed wind farm project that is targeted for construction next year.
“We’re looking next at Cagayan but we have to look for funding for that,” he said.
The country has an estimated potential of 7,600 megawatts of realizable wind energy. So far, only Northwind’s Bangui Bay project and a 5-kilowatt and 180-kilowatt wind plant in Camarines and Batanes, respectively, have tapped this resource.
Investors’ reluctance to put up such projects is due to the absence of a law extending incentives to those ventures. The Renewable Energy Bill, which proposes to extend such incentives, remains pending in Congress. --Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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