P20-B wind power project to rise in Northern Samar by 2026

SINGAPORE-BASED Vena Energy’s local unit Gemini Wind Energy Corp. (GWEC) said it is investing P20.2 billion in a 304-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Northern Samar, slated to start operations in late 2026, to help expand the country’s renewable energy capacity.

The Gemini Wind Power Project will span 777 hectares across 15 towns in the province, according to the company’s filing with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The project will require 38 wind turbine generators, each with a rated capacity of 9 MW.

GWEC said the proposed wind farm “offers long-term solutions to the perennial shortfall in electric power supply to the Philippine economy and fully supports the objectives of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.”

Compared with other technologies, the company said a wind farm was the “most commercially feasible” option to optimize the province’s geography and available resources, while leaving a minimal environmental impact compared with conventional coal and diesel facilities.

The project was among the winning bids under the government’s green energy auction in 2023.

It was also certified as an energy project of national significance by the Department of Energy and identified as a strategic investment by the Board of Investments.

Vena Energy is one of Asia’s largest renewable energy independent power producers. In the Philippines, it operates six power plants with a combined capacity of 330.80 MW across Negros Occidental, Rizal, Leyte, Ilocos Norte, and Bukidnon.

In August, Vena Energy said it had secured 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of additional offtake contracts and construction capacity in the Asia-Pacific since January, bringing its total portfolio to 9.7 GW. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera