ALTERNERGY Holdings Corp. has installed its 10th meteorological or met mast on Alabat island in Quezon province to harness the northeast monsoon through its wind power project.

“The met mast will validate the strength and capacity of the wind resource over the next two years,” Alternergy Chief Technical Director Knud Hedeager said in a media release.

Mr. Hedeager said the 80-meter met mast uses the NRG system, which the company said will measure the wind resource in the area.

Alternergy cited a report from Global Wind Atlas which said that the project site has an average wind speed of “more than seven meters per second.”

Vicente S. Pérez, Jr., chairman of the power company, said that the island was strategically chosen as a site for the wind power project.

“By developing a wind project in a site that bravely faces the ever-prevailing ‘amihan’ northeast monsoon from the Pacific Ocean, Alternergy aims to turn a natural resource into a reliable source of clean energy,” Mr. Pérez said.

The Alabat wind power project has a proposed capacity of up to 50 megawatts (MW). The company is targeting to develop up to 1,370 MW of additional wind, offshore wind, solar, and run-of-river hydro projects in the next five years. — Ashley Erika O. Jose