DOE to bid out 16 wind power projects this year

The Department of Energy (DOE) will bid out 16 wind power projects this year as part of government’s efforts to find alternative electricity sources.

 Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez who today will launch the department’s Philippine Wind Power Investment Kit at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City, said the 16 wind power projects will have a total wind power capacity of 345 megawatts (MW). 

 Of the 16 projects,  11 wind sites are located in Luzon, four in the Visayas and one in Mindanao.

 The DOE has been encouraging investors to look into the potential commercialization of  wind power technology which is already widely used in other countries.

 In April this year, NorthWind Development Power Corp. started the  construction of the 25-MW wind power complex in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte, to date the country’s and Southeast Asia’s first and largest wind farm.

 "Several studies have confirmed the Philippines’ wind potential. To jumpstart the development and use of  wind power, the government  has laid down the necessary measures to fully harness this energy resource," Perez  said.

 He said  various incentives could be availed by investors that pursue wind power projects. These incentives include waiver of production bonus on the first project and payment of production bonus to the government only after the project has fully recovered pre-operating expenses as stated under Executive Order 462, the law encouraging private sector participation in the exploration and development of ocean, solar and wind energy resources.

Other incentives include income tax holiday, reduced duty rates for imported capital equipments and other Board of Investments (BOI) mandated incentives.

Investors can also seek  financial assistance from lending agencies such as the Development Bank of the Philippines (UNDP), United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) and Philippine Export and Import Bank (PhilEXIM), Perez said.

DBP has identified several financing packages under its Wind Energy Financing Program, RE Project Preparation revolving Fund, Rural Power Project for Type A Beneficiaries, Rural Power Project for Type B Beneficiaries and CDM Initiatives.

The UNDP-GEF, on the other hand, offers assistance in the project preparation and loan guarantee for the project. 

PhilEXIM, for its part, provides loan guarantees to selected wind power projects.

Perez said that the DOE is also planning a  wind power mission within the year to woo more investors.

Based on the study of the United States Department of Energy-National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Philippines wind potential is estimated at 76,000 MW, covering an area of more than 11,000 square kilometer.  The same study shows that there are 47 provinces out of 73 in the Philippines with at least 500 MW of wind potential and 25 provinces with at least 1,000 MW of wind potential.

Another study conducted by the WWF show that the Philippines total wind potential is about 7,404 MW covering 1,038 wind sites. It identified 686 wind potential sites in 28 provinces in Luzon with a total capacity of 4,900 MW. A total of 305 wind sites with a total potential of 2,168 MW can be found in Visayas. About 47 sites in Mindanao have the  potential of generating 336 MW of electricity.