TRANS-Asia Renewable Energy Corp. (Tarec) has secured approval from the regulators to put up a P970.23-million point-to-point transmission facilities that will connect its San Lorenzo wind-farm project through the transmission system of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in the Visayas grid.
In an 18-page order, the wholly owned subsidiary of Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. of the Phinma Group, filed for a petition for an authority to develop, own and operate the facilities. However, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) only allowed Tarec to develop and own the facilities but not to operate these.
“Tarec is hereby authorized to develop and own…NGCP shall operate the dedicated point-to-point transmission facilities,” the ERC said. The state granted NGCP an exclusive franchise to operate and maintain the country’s grid. Therefore, the ERC said, the NGCP should be the sole operator of all transmission facilities in the country. Besides, there was no assurance the proposed facilities will be operated by Tarec without any adverse effect to the reliability of the grid. Thus, “the Commission deems it necessary that operations and maintenance o the said facilities will be through NGCP.”
The San Lorenzo Wind Farm Project will cover four barangays of the municipality of San Lorenzo, Guimaras. It is comprised of 27 wind-turbine generators at 2 megawatts (MW) each.
To dispatch the power to be generated by the wind-power project, Tarec proposed that it be connected to the Visayas grid through the transmission system of the NGCP, which, it said, is the “most feasible means to dispatch power and put into beneficial use the generated capacity thereof.”
Tarec said its 54-MW wind-farm project is considered a priority project in the Western Visayas, a region being promoted to become the country’s front-runner in renewable-energy mix by 2020.
The proposed interconnection facility, Tarec said, is necessary for the wind-farm project to be within the 200-MW installation target and qualify for a feed-in tariff (FIT).
For a renewable-energy project to qualify for a FIT, it has to be 100 percent connected and ready to export power to the grid.
“As the installation target for wind energy resource is at 200 MW only, and with currently more than 200-MW wind projects under construction, qualifying for the FIT is on a first-come, first-serve basis, among wind-energy projects that are fully commissioned and 100 percent connected to the grid,” Tarec said.