Trans-Asia unit plans another wind project

MANILA, Philippines - Trans Asia Renewable Energy Corp., the renewable energy arm of Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. plans to develop another 40-megawatt wind project in Sibunag, Guimaras.

Trans-Asia president Francisco Viray said the final decision on the project would depend on developments on the feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme, a set of incentives given to renewable energy players.

“We will do Sibunag only if we get a FIT for San Lorenzo and a FIT for Sibunag prior to investment,” Viray said.

Under the FIT system, renewable energy companies are entitled to the following FIT rates: P9.68 per kwh for solar power, P8.53 per kwh for wind and P5.90 per kwh for run-of-river hydroelectric power.

The government has been trying to attract investors into the renewable energy sector amid calls from environmental groups to develop cleaner sources of energy other than coal.

The Department of Energy has given Trans-Asia the green light to conduct a grid impact study on the wind project.

If the wind project pushes through, it would come on the heels of the company’s San Lorenzo wind project in Guimaras, which has reached a peak of 52 megawatts, representing 96 percent of the rated capacity of the project. 

Located in San Lorenzo, in the nearby island of Guimaras, the wind farm consists of 27 wind turbines each with two MW of generation capacity installed over a 14 square kilometer area.

The San Lorenzo project supplies power to Panay via a new 2.8-kilometer submarine cable connection from Guimaras, Tarec vice president Danilo Panes said.

For the month December 2014, the project generated 9.163 gigawatt hours of power, which was supplied to Panay through the Visayas wholesale electricity spot market (WESM). 

This is possible because under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which promotes the use of renewable energy, wind energy producers such as Tarec are given priority dispatch under the WESM system to supply their energy output to the grid.