Alternergy Holdings Corp. has started generating electricity from its 64-megawatt Alabat Wind Farm in Quezon Province, bringing the project closer to commercial operations and giving the renewable energy developer an early revenue stream ahead of full commissioning.
The project is among the first wind facilities awarded under the Department of Energy’s second Green Energy Auction Program to achieve transmission-line energization. It is also the first GEAP 2 wind project in Quezon to reach the milestone.
Three of Alabat’s wind turbines are now generating electricity and earning pre-commissioning revenues, while the project’s 37-kilometer, 69-kilovolt transmission system has been connected to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ Gumaca-Lopez, or Hondagua, 69-kV line.
The milestone allows Alternergy to proceed with integrated testing and remaining commissioning activities before the facility enters full commercial operations.
A key feature of the project is a 1.4-kilometer overhead sea-crossing transmission link between Alabat Island and the Luzon mainland. Alternergy said it is the first such link developed for a Philippine wind project and forms part of its first inter-island transmission system.
“With the Alabat Wind Farm now energized and generating electricity, our focus is on completing the remaining testing and commissioning activities needed to bring Alabat into commercial operations,” Alternergy President Gerry Magbanua said.
The project uses 8-MW wind turbines, which Alternergy described as the largest installed in Southeast Asia outside China.
Once fully operational, Alabat is expected to generate about 202 gigawatt-hours of renewable electricity annually, enough to supply roughly 218,500 households and avoid an estimated 150,541 metric tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
The project advances Alternergy’s goal of developing up to 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and adds new clean power supply to the Luzon grid.
