NorthPoint puts Cagayan wind power project on hold

NorthPoint Wind Power Corp., subsidiary of NorthWind Power Development Corp., has put on hold plans to develop the 40-megawatt wind project in Cagayan pending the release of the feed-in tariff for the subsector, a company official told reporters Friday. Giovanni Macapobre, business development manager said in a briefing that wind measuring instruments were already installed in Aparri, Cagayan but Northpoint is still waiting for the feed-in tariff, the cost of electricity charged to consumers for each type of renewable energy. The Aparri wind farm will be located at along the shores of Dodan, Aparri. "We are still waiting for the feed-in tariff," Macapobre said. The tariff mechanism would ensure that investors get a fixed power rate for 12 years. NorthPoint pledged to spend $95 million for the Aparri wind project that consists of 20 to 25 wind turbines to generate power for electric cooperatives in Cagayan. Dino Tiatco, NorthWind plant manager, said he is unsure whether they will proceed with the project which would depend on the final numbers of the feed-in tariff scheme. The Energy Regulatory Commission is now reviewing comments by the National Renewable Energy Board on the feed-in tariff rules. Once the rules are finalized and approved, the board will come up with the tariff list for submission and approval of the regulator. Niels Jacobsen, NorthWind president and CEO, earlier told reporters that construction at the wind farm is to start next year. NorthPoint is now waiting for "last pieces of the law to be put in place like the feed-in tariff, renewable energy portfolio standards, and how it is actually going to work," according to him. Jacobsen said they are also in talks with various financing institutions to finance the project. Ferdinand Dumlao, NorthWind chairman, said the project has received support from Japanese, Danish and Spanish investors and creditors. MorthPoint, which operates the 33-MW Bangui Bay wind farm in Ilocos Norte, expects to sign supply contracts with electric cooperatives in Cagayan once the tariff rate is in place. The Bangui wind farm is the largest in Southeast Asia. It sells s electricity to the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative, providing 40 percent of the power requirements of the province. —Carmela G. Lapeña/VS, GMANews.TV