DOE eyes P187B in investments in planned wind power ventures

The Department of Energy expects about P187.7 billion in investments to be infused into proposed wind power projects, which will have capacity to generate more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity.

Data from the DOE showed that about P171 billion of the projected investments were expected to be infused into 43 projects in Luzon that can generate a total of 1,897 MW of power.

Ten projects with combined capacity of 173 MW and estimated cost of P15.6 billion are planned for the Visayas.

Only one wind power project, with a capacity of 15 MW, was listed by the DOE for Mindanao. This project is expected to cost P1.35 billion.

Most renewable energy developers, including the wind sector, are now reviewing their plans following the issuance of the feed-in-tariff rates last month.

The FIT is a mechanism provided under the Renewable Energy Law that will assure investors of fixed cash flows within a 20-year period. For wind power projects, an FIT rate of P8.53 per kilowatt-hour was approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission. This was lower than the P10.37 per kWh rate sought by the industry.

The country has one existing wind farm, the 33-MW Bangui Bay wind farm in Ilocos Norte, which was the first wind facility to be installed in Southeast Asia. The DOE is targeting to put in place an additional 2,345 MW in capacity.

According to the DOE, the Philippines is situated on the fringes of the Asia Pacific monsoonal belt and exhibits a good potential for wind energy.

Based on the Philippine Wind Energy Resource Atlas prepared by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory in 2001, the country has 76,600 MW wind potential in six regions: Batanes and Babuyan islands, north of Luzon; the northwest tip of Luzon (Ilocos Norte); the higher interior terrain of Luzon, Mindoro, Samar, Leyte, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Palawan, eastern Mindanao, and adjacent islands; well-exposed east-facing coastal locations in northern Luzon southward to Samar; the wind corridors between Luzon and Mindoro (including Lubang Island), and the area between Mindoro and Panay.