Senator Edgardo Angara said on Wednesday the Philippines should vigorously pursue clean energy projects by harnessing wind energy as a renewable energy source.
Citing a report of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), Angara said that the potential for the renewable energy source remains untapped despite recent aggressive moves to develop and install large wind energy in the country.
“By exploiting innovative RE systems like wind energy, we can move towards achieving the long-term goal of energy independence,” said Angara.
Angara noted that renewable energy produces roughly 40 percent of the country’s total energy, but this is mostly geothermal, while wind, solar, and micro-hydro account for less than one percent.
Based on the assessment of the US-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Philippines has over 10,000 square kilometers of areas that have good to excellent wind source potentials.
”This means that the Philippines has 76,600 MW of potential capacity. These numbers only reflect capacity for large wind systems,” Angara said.
Angara said that wind power technology is a mature technology, and installed capacity for wind systems is growing worldwide at about 30 percent annually.
”With the analysis of NREL and availability of technology and suppliers, the Philippines can become a regional leader in wind energy production,” he said.
The Philippines has only one operational large-scale wind farm in Bangui Bay, Ilocos, which generates 33 megawatts. However, smaller stand-alone systems have been deployed around the country. Smart Telecommunications Inc. has utilized wind energy in powering 47 of their cellular sites in remote areas.
Japan has expressed interest in working with local partners to develop small wind energy systems even as Japan-based International Center for Environmental Technology (ICETT) has already carried out a pilot demonstration project for innovative small wind technology. If developed, small wind technology can raise the country’s wind power potential to 97,000MW.