Philippines Nabas project starts in January

The Energy Regulatory Commission has allowed PetroWind Energy Inc. to start operating the first eight wind turbines of the 50-megawatt Nabas wind power project in Aklan province in January.

ERC said it approved the commissioning tests for the first eight wind turbines, as a part of phase 1 of the project for two months from Jan. 17 to March 17, 2015.

The approval would bring the 50-MW Nabas wind power project closer to commercial operation.

PetroWind president Milagros Reyes said the decision, including the recent approval of the point-to-point facilities to connect Nabas wind power plant to the 69-kV Nabas-Caticlan substation, showed the company’s strict compliance to the rules on the construction and operation of interconnection facilities by private generators.

“We shall test the remaining 10 WTGs of our phase one soon after, to complete the project by the end of March 2015. We are proud that our investment in Nabas is contributing to the installation of about 400 MW of wind power by the first quarter 2015—Southeast Asia’s fastest deployment to-date of clean and renewable wind power,” Reyes said.

PetroWind is a joint venture company, which is 40-percent owned by PetroEnergy Resources Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiary PetroGreen Energy Corp., 40 percent by Singapore-based CapAsia ASEAN Wind Holdings Cooperatief U.V. and 20 percent by EEI Power Corp.

Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores said the project, the single biggest investment in Aklan, would help meet the soaring demand for power in Boracay as well as becoming an eco-tourism attraction.

“As just as important, we look forward to receiving the local government share of royalties from PWEI’s feed-in tariff revenues. We are fortunate that some of the FIT-Allowance to be collected from consumers nationwide will also be benefiting Aklan LGUs not just those in Luzon,” Miraflores said.

PetroWind vice president Francisco Delfin Jr. said the projection completion of the Nabas phase 1 in March and the timely approval of the transmission line was timely because power demand in the Visays usually peaked during the dry season.

“Based on the NGCP grid impact study, the Nabas-Caticlan transmission line can accommodate 50 MW of power from the Nabas wind farm. Thus, when we commission the 36-MW phase 1 of the project, there will be no grid capacity congestion when electricity is dispatched from the wind farm to the Panay consumers,” he said.