A study by Danish engineering firm Cowi Inc anchored that a 50-megawatt wind power facility is feasible for development in Nabas, Aklan in the Philippines.
The Danish company rendered consultancy services to PetroGreen Energy Corporation, the renewable energy arm of publicly-listed PetroEnergy Resources Corporation, chiefly in the assessment of wind potential in Aklan.
The company is a holder of wind energy service contract awarded to it by the Department of Energy covering the Nabas-Buruanga-Malay area.
PetroEnergy disclosed that the results of initial micrositing study and annual energy production estimate by Danish engineering firm Cowi Inc., the consultant for the project, show that a 50MW wind farm in Nabas is technically viable to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The company added though that it is still undertaking a detailed geologic survey for civil works and construction planning purposes.
There is also one major policy decision that the project company has been awaiting before it can seamlessly move forward with project plans that would be the approval of the proposed feed-in-tariffs (FITs) for renewable energy by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
A project developer said that if a viable FIT is granted by the ERC, PetroGreen plans to commission the project by mid-2014 or earlier,” the project developer said.
The company is currently lining up its application for the project’s environmental compliance certificate (ECC) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) following the completion of its environmental impact study.
The energy department has granted a one-year final extension for the project’s pre-development stage.
This will then allow the project developer to stretch its conduct of technical feasibility studies in the area until September 13, 2012.
Ahead of its investment foray into wind power generation, PetroGreen has already firmed up plans for the construction of a 20-megawatt geothermal power project in Batangas, which has date-certain commercial operation in 2013.
