By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-editor
ALTERNERGY Sembrano Wind Corp. (ASWC) is seeking regulatory approval for its plan to build a point-to-point transmission facility to connect its 81-megawatt (MW) wind power plant to the power line of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
ASWC holds a wind energy service contract granting it the exclusive right to explore, develop and utilize wind resources within an area in the provinces of Rizal and Laguna.
“Pursuant to the Service Contract, ASWC is developing the Sembrano Wind Farm, which is targeted to commence operations in the second half of 2019,” the company said.
ASWC, an expansion of the 54-MW wind farm under Alternergy Wind One Corp., will build the transmission line within the vicinity of Mt. Sembrano and span across the town of Pililla in Rizal province, and the towns of Mabitac and Pakil in Laguna.
Alternergy is led by former Energy Secretary Vicente S. Perez Jr.
In its application with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), ASWC placed the cost of the transmission line at around P715.2 million. It will connect the Sembrano wind farm to the Luzon grid through Meralco’s 115-kilovolt (kV) Malaya-Teresa line.
ASWC said under Republic Act No. 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, it enjoys the benefit of priority dispatch as a generating unit utilizing an intermittent renewable energy resource.
“Given the RE Law’s objective to accelerate the development of the country’s renewable energy resources and increase the utilization of renewable energy, it is in the interest of the government to help RE developers such as ASWC achieve commerciality and commence operations at the soonest practicable time,” ASWC said.
The interconnection of the Sembrano wind farm to the Luzon grid involves the construction along the public road of a three phase 115-kV line. The line is around 10.2 kilometers and spans the high voltage substation of the project to the proposed Pililla switching station.
The dedicated facility will be owned, operated, maintained and used exclusively by ASWC for the connection of the wind farm to the grid. Meralco and ASWC have an interconnection agreement dated March 23, 2017.
“A provisional authority is needed to enable ASWC to achieve the target commercial operations date . . . in the second half 2019 and avoid adverse consequences to [the company],” ASWC said.
The ERC is set to tackle ASWC’s application next month.

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