By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-Editor
PETROWIND Energy, Inc. is studying options to move forward the capacity expansion of its wind farm in Aklan at a cost of P1.4 billion, including the creation of a retail electricity supply (RES) business to sell the additional energy output.
“Hopefully if we are able to secure the off-take, we should aim to award the major contracts by the fourth quarter of this year,” Francisco G. Delfin, Jr., PetroWind executive vice-president, said after company officials showed the existing 36-megawatt (MW) wind project to reporters on Thursday.
He said the company plans to add 14 MW more, or seven more wind turbine towers to add to the existing 18 towers. Five of the turbines are in the town of Malay and the rest are in the nearby Nabas town.
“Total cost would be P1.4 billion. Mas mababa na (It will be lower),” he said, referring to the comparison with the P4.6-billion cost in building the existing Nabas-1 wind energy capacity in 2014.
PetroWind is a joint-venture firm owned by Thailand-listed BCPG Public Co. Ltd. (40%), EEI Power Corp. (20%) and PetroGreen Energy Corp. (40%). PetroGreen is a 90%-owned subsidiary of the Yuchengco-led publicly listed PetroEnergy Resources Corp.
Mr. Delfin said an “off-taker” or buyer of the planned Nabas-2 additional output could be forged through three ways, all of which are being studied by the company.
The first option is a traditional bilateral power supply agreement (PSA) with Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) as the target off-taker. The coop’s power demand is about 61 MW, half of which is taken by popular tourist destination Boracay Island.
“Many of the hotels and establishments (in Boracay) are going back to Akelco rather than running their own generators,” Mr. Delfin said, adding that PetroWind’s proposition of providing energy will not only stabilize the distribution system but will also promote investments, jobs and boost tax payments through real property taxes and permits.
He said foreign tourists have become more conscious about sustainability, thus sourcing green power could be an added boost to the hotels and resorts. But the mode means going through a competitive selection process (CSP), thus the need to better package the company’s energy output.
The second option is participating in the government’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS), which requires utilities to source a portion of energy needs from renewables.
Mr. Delfin said the company had taken note of the National Renewable Energy Board’s announcement that it was considering to promote and install an additional 2,000 MW through the mechanism. The Department of Energy has also made the same pronouncement.
The third option is entering the retail electricity supply business, he said. The venture, should it push through, would be under PetroGreen.
“There are other existing RES companies that are approaching us in preparation for the availability of Nabas-2,” he said. “We’re really exploring the retail segment of the power industry.”
“We’re going to be applying soon for our RES license,” he said, noting that Supreme Court had put on hold rules relating to retail competition and open access (RCOA), including the issuance of new licenses.
Mr. Delfin said PetroWind was looking at internally generated funds, through PetroEnergy’s previous stock rights offering, to finance Nabas-2, and through bank financing.
