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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
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