Ayala Group inaugurates largest PH wind farm in Ilocos Norte
By Alena Mae S. Flores – May 19, 2023, 9:40 pm
from manilastandard.net
PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte—The country’s largest wind farm owned by Ayala Corp.’s energy platform ACEN Corp. is set to rise here by 2025 with a capacity of 160 megawatts.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inaugurated the P11.8 billion 160 MW Pagudpud wind project here, together with his son Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos and Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta- Marcos and other government officials.
The president lauded the Ayala Group for its continuing investments in renewable energy, especially in Ilocos Norte.
“Ilocos Norte has been blessed with excellent wind energy potential and it is really a blessing because it is not something we can decide as a political decision,” Marcos said.
He said renewable energy is the way to address climate change. “Climate change is, of course, the paramount concern. We have to adjust, we have to adapt to climate change. That’s number one priority,” the president said.
Marcos urged Ilocos Norte officials to “continue to keep the province as a pioneer for renewables, leading the way for the whole country.”
The Pagudpud wind project in Barangays Balaoi and Caunayan in Pagudpud uses the latest wind technology Siemens Gamesa 132 and 145.
It comprises 32 wind turbine generators, each capable of producing 5 MW of power.
The first 80 MW of the project was completed in the first quarter with the full 160 MW expected to be delivered no later than December 2025 under the Green Energy Auction Program of the Department of Energy.
“We see this facility as a critical contribution to further securing the increasing power requirements of the Luzon grid. We are happy to be able to complete the first phase of the power plant equivalent to 88 MW,” Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said.
The project, developed by ACEN subsidiary Bayog Wind Power Corp., can help power 123,875 homes and avoid 344,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
ACEN now has three operating wind projects in Ilocos Norte. The other two include the 52-MW NorthWind in the municipality of Bangui and the 81-MW North Luzon Renewables in Caparispisan, Pagudpud.
ACEN has the largest wind portfolio in the Philippines at 416 MW, with 266 MW in operation and 150 MW under construction. Nearly 90 percent of its wind projects are located in Ilocos Norte.
