WWF sees 500-MW wind power capacity in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines can generate up to 500 megawatts of wind power capacity, according to World Wildlife Fund-Philippines.

The additional 500 MW, which will come from new wind farms in Ilocos, Rizal and Panay, is expected to help augment power supply in Luzon, it added.

“A country’s national grid should have a power reserve capacity equal to or larger than its biggest power plant. This reserve prevents blackouts, even if the grid’s biggest plant shuts down,” said WWF-Philippines Climate Change Unit head Gia Ibay.

She said the 500 MW in wind power is smaller than the grid’s reserve requirements, so even with their nature, they will not affect the grid negatively.

“There will also be no grid constraint problems regarding the time of day that wind farms feed energy into the system because wind production peaks from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the hours with the highest daily peak demands. This means that all generated energy will be consumed. This dispels fears of creating ‘over-contracted’ energy, which goes to waste,” Ibay explained.

About 70 percent of Philippine electricity is currently generated from fossil-fuels, 90 percent of which are imported at varying prices.

The group is pushing for an increase in the feed-in tariff (FiT) allocation for wind energy to 500 MW before the end of the summer from 200 MW.

It has launched the so-called Seize the Wind campaign, which fully supports the construction of new wind farms to augment the national power supply and overcome the country’s power deficit.

About 400 MW of wind power shall be added to the national grid by April 2015, according to WWF.