Sunstar Davao
Thursday, November 20, 2014
WITH the specter of blackouts to hit Luzon grid customers, Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. expects the inauguration of the 81-megawatt Caparispisan windfarm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte to contribute toward easing the expected backlog of electricity come summer of 2015.
Together with his sister, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, Pagudpud Mayor Marlon Sales and Ayala executives, the senator led fellow Filipinos in inauguration rites in the coastal town of Barangay Caparispisan, located 72 kilometers from the Provincial Capitol of Laoag City.
With just a little over 625 residents, this barangay is best known for its white sandy beaches located in the first district of Pagudpud town.
Known all over the world as the "Boracay of the North," Pagudpud is home to about 22,000 Filipinos in Ilocos Norte and is about 560 kilometers away from Manila.
Marcos said this project, which taps wind as an energy source, is not just environmentally-sound but a cost-effective way of helping ease the enormous burden the Philippines faces in its power requirements as an emerging economy.
The 81-Caparispisan Wind Energy project is a joint venture established in July by Ayala's energy investment arm, AC Energy Holdings Incorporated, the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure and the UPC Philippines Wind Holdco.
The Northern Luzon Renewable Energy Corporation (NLREC) is tasked with developing wind power projects in the Ilocos region, specifically Ilocos Norte. It broke ground last September 2013.
The inauguration came after the House committee on energy approved the granting of the emergency powers to the President where he will have the authority to provide for the establishment of additional power generating capacity to address the energy crisis.
Energy Secretary Carlos Petilla was quoted several times in the media warning of a possible two to three hours rotating brownouts in the summer of 2015 if government fails to address a possible 200 megawatt shortage in electricity.
With Caparispisan inaugurated and soon to provide clean power online, and with the expected opening of other wind farm projects in the future in Ilocos Senator Marcos Jr. said that even without the grant of emergency powers to the president, the expected output to be generated by these windfarm projects would contribute greatly towards improving the power situation in Luzon, at least.
"The wind plants found only in my home province would help avert the looming power crisis by providing clean renewable wind resources to the country for power generation, thus addressing the soaring power consumption," Marcos said. source
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