Tuesday, January 06, 2009 [ manilatimes.net ]
Renewable energy firm NorthWind Power Development Corp., the developer of the first wind farm in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, is setting its sights on Cagayan as the location for another wind farm.
Ferdinand Dumlao, NorthWind chairman, said that the company is keen on putting up a 40-megawatt wind farm worth an estimated $95 million in Aparri, Cagayan.
“We are pursuing our expansion plans because wind is a renewable form of energy and it is very timely because of the passage of the Renewable Energy Bill. At the same time, wind projects are very environmental friendly,” he said.
NorthWind is the same company that put up the 33-megawatt Bangui Bay wind farm, the largest such facility in the country and the Southeast Asian region. Located in the province of Ilocos Norte, the said facility was recently expanded to its present capacity.
The company’s Bangui Bay project sells electricity to the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative and provides 40 percent of the power requirements of the province.
NorthWind also plans to sell electricity from its proposed wind farm in Cagayan to electric cooperatives in the province.
However, Dumlao said the company is still securing financing for the Cagayan wind farm but he earlier said the project has received strong support from Japanese, Danish and Spanish investors and creditors.
He added that the passage of the Renewable Energy Bill is expected to attract investors to pour in funds for these capital-intensive projects.
“The provision in the RE [renewable energy] bill that will allow investors to enjoy incentives will help promote wind energy development,” he said.
A study conducted by the World Wide Fund earlier found that the country has a potential capacity of over 7,000 megawatts of realizable wind energy, more than the combined capacities of the country’s large conventional plants.-- Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo