PetroWind secures approvals to power Aklan wind project 

PETROWIND Energy, Inc. has secured approvals for the energization of its 13.2-megawatt (MW) Phase-2 of Nabas wind power project in Aklan, the company said on Sunday.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc. (IEMOP) approved the registration of its facility with the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the company said in a statement.

PetroWind is a joint venture of PetroGreen Energy Corp., the renewable energy arm of Yuchengco-led listed company PetroEnergy Resources Corp., EEI Power Corp., and Thailand’s BCPG Public Co. Ltd.

“This WESM registration approval authorizes Phase-2 as an additional facility of PWEI,” PetroGreen Assistant Vice-President for Power Markets Dave P. Gadiano said.

He added that the approval came after the successful testing by the Energy Regulatory Commission of the project’s metering equipment last February.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) also had a test for supervisory control and data acquisition of the project in March.

Following the WESM registration approval, the NGCP issued the certificate of approval to connect for Phase 2 as a load facility.

“With this approval, PWEI can now energize the new and dedicated 16 MVA (megavolt-amperes) Phase-2 substation with feedback power to start the internal technical tests of our VESTAS wind turbines,” PetroGreen Vice-President for Technical Operations Paul Elmer C. Morala said.

“Should all go well, grid compliance tests with power export to the grid will soon follow,” he added, referring to the Panay sub-grid.

The Nabas-2 project is located south of the existing 36-MW Nabas-1 wind power project, which would add six turbine generators to the existing 18 of the first phase.

The company is targeting to complete the second phase of the project by 2024. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera