2013, September 03
81-MW wind farm to rise in Pagudpud
PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte—Another wind power farm with a capacity of 81 megawatts will soon rise in the wind-swept village of Caparispisan in this town following its groundbreaking on September 3.
The sprawling green hills of Barangay Caparispisan with several scattered pine trees overlooking the West Philippine Sea will soon be planted with at least 32 units of wind turbines worth approximately US$220 million.
With the growing interest of independent power producers to harness Ilocos Norte’s ind and solar power, three giant companies joined in to develop wind power projects here through Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corporation (NLUPC) as their joint venture company.
Earlier, AC Energy Holdings Inc. (ACEHI), a subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation signed an investment framework agreement and shareholders’ agreement with UPC Renewables and collaborated with the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure
(PINAI) with investors composed of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Asian Development Bank, APC, and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings Pte Limited.An initial equity investment has been agreed for the first 81 MW project with ACEHI funding 64 percent of equity, PINAI, 32 percent and UPC, 4 percent.
On June 17, 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) approved the 81 MW declaration of commerciality paving the way for the issuance of notice to proceed as NLUPC already signed turbine supply, installation and service availability agreement with Siemens Wind Power A/S and Siemens Inc.
According to DOE Assistant Secretary Daniel Ariaso Sr., the initial phase of the project is expected to be connected to the grid by June 2014. NLUPC has a portfolio of additional wind energy projects of over 200 MW under development, with ACEHI’s growing wind farm portfolio in the Philippines including Ayala Corporation’s 50 percent ownership of the 33 MW Bangui wind farm of the Northwind Power Development Corporation.
UPC, on the other hand, has already established 20 years of experience in developing, financing, constructing and operating wind farms in Europe, USA and Asia with gross generating capacities of approximately 2,000 MW.
PINAI is a P26 billion fund dedicated to equity investment in Philippine infrastructure
assets being managed by Macquaire Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), a part of MIRA manages more than US$100 billion worth of infrastructure assets globally, including more than 16.7 GW (gigawatts) of power generation assets.
