Developers target Philippine wind installation project

At least four groups with an aggregate capacity of 280MW are vying for the 220MW capacity for feed-in-tariff support for wind power installations.

These are First Gen of the Lopez Group, Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corporation; Alternergy Philippines Holdings Corporation of former Energy Secretary Vincent Perez’s group; and Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corporation.

The FIT charge approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission for wind has been at Php 8.53 per kilowatt hour.
UPC Asia, on the other hand, is working on two projects in Ilocos Norte with total capacity of 80 megawatts; and the balance of 40 to 60 MW is being eyed by Alternergy and its partners.

Alternergy will be bringing in South Korean firm East-West Power Co. and Eurus Energy of Japan as co-venturers in its proposed wind power projects.

One of the controversy-inducing concerns in the FIT availments of RE projects would be on the manner of award of the installations that will be laid down soon by the Department of Energy.

The idea being propounded by the NREB will be to award the initial installations based on the “commercial-readiness” of the projects; while the next batch of projects will have to be selected via competitive bidding.