By Juancho R. Mahusay (The Philippine
Star) | Updated October 1, 2013 - 12:00am
CALAPAN CITY , Philippines – After the national government recently
issued an official service contract to a private company to speed up
construction of wind power facilities in Oriental Mindoro, another renewable
energy resource developer is set to construct a 33.4-megawatt wind power
project here, making this island province producer of electricity using wind as
its main source.
PhilCarbon Inc. president Ruth Y. Owen
said her company’s wind farm – which will be built in the municipality of
Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro – is currently in the pre-development stage and
the facilities for it, including its power plant, would start construction in
2016.
“We are currently in the permitting
process. We have already secured the ECC
(environmental compliance certificate) for the project,” she said on the
sidelines of the Powertrends 2013 International Exhibition and Conference which
was recently held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
“We plan to construct the project in
three years or in 2016 and that will take a year and a half before being
operational,” Owen added.
According to her, the said wind power
project – which would cost a staggering P3.4 billion – would be funded through
debt and equity, and noted that the wind farm is estimated to generate 73.146
gigawatt-hour of power annually.
PhilCarbon received its wind energy
service contract from the Department of Energy in 2011. In December last year,
the company secured approval from the Board of Investments (BOI) to avail of
incentives under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.
“The BOI has approved our application
for registration as a renewable energy developer of wind power to avail
incentives such as duty-free importation of capital equipment as we prepare for
construction of our wind power project,” Owen said.
Besides the wind project in Oriental
Mindoro, the company also has plans to rehabilitate the 50-kilowatt Pasonanca
hydro power plant in Zamboanga City, under a memorandum of agreement it signed
with the water district of the city.
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