NABAS, AKLAN—PetroWind Energy Inc. (PWEI) expects to fully its 13.2-megawatt Nabas phase-2 expansion in this province next year.
This will help improve Aklan’s electricity supply along with the recent approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the grid enhancement in the province by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
The ERC approved the P4.2-billion Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay 138 kV transmission project intended to address overloading issues in the existing Nabas-Caticlan 69kV transmission line, the Caticlan-Boracay submarine cable and the Manoc-Manoc 69kV load end substation.
The project, once completed in 2025, will help bridge power more efficiently in Panay and the Visayas. This follows the additional power supply from the commissioning of PWEI’s first three 2.2-MW Vestas wind-turbine generators in the second quarter of 2024.
“Nabas-2 remains the only new power plant connected to the Panay sub-grid since the island-wide grid outage in January 2024. PWEI is, therefore, supportive of the government’s grid enhancement project in Aklan, as it will help reduce the risk of generation curtailment at PWEI’s wind farm, leading to more stable power generation and the continued opportunity to supply clean power to the grid,” PWEI senior manager Jason Abaniel said.
Abaniel said PWEI is committed to completing phase 2, with the commissioning and testing of the first three turbines set for completion in January and the remaining three turbines within 2025.
PetroGreen Energy Corp. and publicly-listed PetroEnergy Resources Corp., both part of the Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC), own a combined 60-percent interest in PWEI, while BCPG Wind Cooperatief U.A., a subsidiary of Thailand’s BCPG Public Company Ltd., owns the rest of 40 percent.
Aklan provincial administrator Selwyn Ibarreta welcomed PWEI’s expansion and NGCP’s transmission line improvement.
“The provincial government of Aklan welcomes these developments and the positive impact they will bring to businesses and communities in Aklan, especially now that we have just recently attained first-class provincial classification as announced by Gov. Jose Enrique Miraflores during his Dec. 4, 2024 report to the province,” Ibarreta said.
“Increased access to reliable power is vital for our future growth and development. It will pave the way for additional investments in Aklan that will eventually result in local jobs and additional business taxes, which can fund social services and development projects for the people of Aklan,” he said.
Aklan’s local power cooperative also welcomed the twin energy projects, emphasizing that it would impact the power supply in the area.
“We expect these two vital projects to improve grid stability in the area and hopefully help reduce power interruptions. We are fully aware that whenever there are power interruptions, local businesses, especially the small ones, are affected. Therefore, we need to support the completion of this NGCP transmission and facility enhancement and PWEI’s wind farm expansion,” said Aklan Electric Cooperative acting general manager Ariel Gepty.
