EDC set to start operation of Burgos wind power in Philippines

Renewable energy producer Energy Development Corp. expects to start the testing and commissioning of the 150-megawatt Burgos wind power project in Ilocos Norte within the year, a company official said over the weekend.

EDC is considering expanding its recently-commissioned 49.4-megawatt (MW) geothermal power plant in Negros Oriental.

 

“For the Burgos wind power, it’s more than 90 percent completed,” EDC president Richard Tantoco told reporters.

Tantoco said he was cautiously optimistic the wind power project would contribute additional generating capacity for Luzon in time for the peak dry period next year.

‘We’re doing everything but we’re not committing on the market, that we will be here before March,” he said.

The Burgos wind power project is located on a 686-hectare site, covering the barangays of Saoit, Poblacion and Nagsurot in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

It is being developed in two phases, with the first phase involving 87 MW and the second phase, 63 MW.

Tantoco said wind projects could run on dry months, even if wind resource was not that strong.

“We’re running about 50 percent to 60 percent in summer. We have submitted the data to DoE. The 150-MW will be running 70 to 80 percent between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. And then it will go down in May,” he said.

EDC earlier said it planned to complete the construction of the 87-MW phase 1 by the fourth quarter of 2014 and the 63-MW phase 2 by first quarter of 2015.

The project will reinforce EDC’s position as the country’s premier renewable energy company, adding 150 MW of wind capacity to existing 1,150-MW geothermal and 132-MW hydro power assets.