The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has issued a certificate of compliance (COC), essentially a mark of a project’s favored status, to AC Energy Holdings Inc.’s wind-power projects in Ilocos Norte. AC Energy is the power-generating arm of Ayala Corp.
A company statement released on Friday said its wind farms in that province have received their feed-
in tariff, or FiT COC, which entitled its 19-megawatt (MW) wind-farm expansion in Bangui town, under Northwind Power Development Corp. (Northwind), and its 81-MW facility in Caparispisan, Pagudpud town, under North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. (North Luzon Renewables), to a FiT rate of P8.53 per kilowatt-hour for a period of 20 years.
The FiT rate covers the period October 10, 2014, to October 9, 2034, for the 19-MW Northwind plant, and from November 11, 2014, to November 10, 2034, for the 81-MW North Luzon Renewables facility. Prior to the issuance of the CoC, the Department of Energy issued a Certificate of Endorsement for FiT for both projects, after these were commissioned and began operating commercially.
Northwind’s 19-MW expansion was completed in October 2014 and has since been delivering power to the grid. The expansion puts Northwind’s total capacity to 52 MW.
North Luzon Renewables also completed its 81-MW wind farm and has, likewise, been operational since November 2014.
Combined, Northwind and North Luzon Renewables put Ayala’s total wind-power capacity at 133 MW, or some of the most extensive in the country today.
“The completion of the projects is timely, given the anticipated tightness in power supply this year.
We hope to further expand our renewable-energy [RE] portfolio, and help increase the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix,” AC Energy President Eric Francia said. Since 2011, Ayala committed over $700 million in equity to develop conventional and RE facilities. AC Energy has, thus far, assembled some 700 MW in so-called attributable capacity, putting the company closer to achieving its goal of assembling over 1,000 MW of attributable capacity by 2016.