China wants RP wind resource map updated

The Chinese government wants the Philippines to come up with an updated wind map identifying suitable areas for wind power projects in the archipelago. The Philippines is now studying the matter, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said Tuesday. For the Philippine wind map, China is willing to give a grant for the study, the energy chief said. A new wind map would facilitate new investment in the wind power sector, Energy Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan said. “The wind map may be used by investors for their actual development audit of the wind resource," Marasigan said. A new wind mapping data would compliment the existing information supplied by US DOE-National Renewable Energy Laboratory, he said. The Philippines welcomes the Chinese initiative, but everything is now under study, according to the energy chief. The Chinese invited Almendras to go to China to discuss the matter. The Chinese also wants the Philippines to take on its new wind technology. “They have a new technology. Before there is a technology being used by NASA. The US had a satellite. The Chinese are saying that they now have another way of doing," he said. The Philippine wind resource has an estimated generation potential of 76,000 megawatts, according to a study by the NREL. The same study showed that 47 of 73 provinces in the Philippines have at least 500-MW in wind potential, and 25 other provinces have at least 1,000 MW each. The study, however, overlooked constraints in those areas like transmission grid accessibility, access roads, and vegetation cover. A separate study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) showed that 1,038 wind sites in the country could generate about 7,404 MW of electricity. — VS, GMANews.TV