Jamison, John Bryan O.

Group 3

Wind Power in Ilocos Norte: More than just a Powerplant

I had longed wanted to experience what it looks like, what it feels like to
see a windmill rotating over and over again, while I play in the beach or in the
grasslands - like the ones that I see on television. Luckily, We had a fieldtrip
during my 4
th
year in high school to Ilocos Norte and one of the destinations is
the famous Wind farm in Bangui the one and only wind farm here in the
Philippines. As I got there, I finally got to see a windmill, and I rushed over to
see how big it is. As I run towards it, I can feel the strong yet gentle breeze in
my face it was really an unforgettable experience. We stayed there for about
two hours, we got wet in the water, play in the beach, and take pictures with
these rotating beauties I had never imagined that these little things that
happen in this wonderful place would be so unforgettable; I had so much fun
in that span of two hours.

To fully enjoy and appreciate windmills, one should learn more about it.
Before discussing about windmills, utilizing the power of the wind should be
learned. The origin of wind power goes way beyond - It goes way back to people
who discovered sailboats since wind is used to power up sailboats; and most of
these civilization is 5,500 years or older (Who Discovered Wind Energy, n.d.).
But there are also notable people who used the wind energy for other purposes,
not only for sailing of sailboats (Who Discovered Wind Energy, n.d.). One is
Hammurabi, the Babylonian Emperor; during the 17
th
century BCE, he
developed an idea to utilize wind energy for his agricultural and irrigation
project. Another is Hero, from Alexandria, a famous greek engineer and
mathematician; about 10 AD, he developed some mechanical devices that
converts wind energy to mechanical energy. Lastly, another man, also named
Hero is a greek inventor; about 70 AD, developed the first wind machine ever
called the wind-powered organ, and during the process he discovered the
actual potential of wind energy, and he wrote several papers about his
discoveries. Fast forwarding to our time, during the 11
th
century specifically in
the Middle East, wind power is used generally for the production of food and
traveling merchants began to spread this knowledge all around the world; the
Dutch people got the knowledge and adapted the technology for the draining of
their lakes and marshes; Americans on the other hand used windmill for the
pumping of water in their farms and ranches and later evolved to generating
electricity (Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, n.d.).

During the Industrial Revolution, there is a sudden decline in the use of
windmills for the pumping of water this is because the steam engine is
invented which is more efficient than windmills (Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, n.d.). But of course, the windmills evolved as time
progresses, it got bigger to produce more electricity and those large windmill
are commonly called wind turbines (Office of Energy Efficient and Renewable
Energy, n.d.). But again during the World War II, the use of wind turbines
declined because of the availability of cheap oil and low energy prices, the price
of fossil fuels fell (Wind Energy Foundation, n.d.). As you can see, the
popularity of the usage of wind turbines is directly proportional to the prices of
fossil fuels as the prices of fossil fuels go down, so does the popularity of wind
turbines as electric generators (Office of Energy Efficient and Renewable
Energy, n.d.). And these scenario happened exactly during the 1970s when the
prices of the fossil fuels go down (Office of Energy Efficient and Renewable
Energy, n.d.). New ideas come and to fully maximize the wind energy into
converting it into electrical energy the concept of wind farm is established
where a group wind turbines is together in place to produce high volume of
electric power (Office of Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy, n.d.). And now,
with continuing research and development, Energy harnessed from wind
turbines is now close in terms of cost to conventional utility generators (Office
of Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy, n.d.). Of course, Research and
development is still continuing to maximize our usage of wind power
specifically in Europe due to a renewed concern for the environment in
response to scientific studies indicating potential changes to the global climate
if the use of fossil fuels continues to increase (Wind Energy Foundation, n.d.).

As I said earlier, currently, there is only one and only Wind Farm here in
the Philippines, and it is located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. The Wind Farm was
developed by a group of organizers called the Northwind Power Development
Corportation it was composed of Danish and Filipino Engineers (Jimeno,
2007). All these development started because of the inadequate supply of power
from NAPOCOR during the 1990s (Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para. 6). Since the
province is at the north end of our country, it makes them vulnerable to power
ouatges; thus, discourages businessmen to invest in this place (Bangui Wind
Farm, n.d., para. 6). So the former Governor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. engaged in
building a power plant in Bangui, Ilocos Norte and NREL (National Renewable
Energy Laboratory) conducted a research that this place, Bangui, and other
high terrain areas such as Samar, Leyte, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Palawan and
Eastern Mindanao are suitable for wind power installation thus the beginning
of the Wind Power Project (Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para. 7). It was the
Northwind Power Development Corporation who developed the project, and is
the one that currently operates and maintains the wind farm (Bangui Wind
Farm, n.d., para. 6). On the other hand, Vestas Wind Systems, a Danish firm,
supplied the wind turbine generators which are similar to those that is found
in Denmark (Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para. 6).

There are three phases in the development of this wind farm. The first
phase of course is the building of the 15 wind turbines, each windmill are 236
meters apart it was inaugurated at June 18, 2005 (Bangui Wind Farm, n.d.,
para. 8.. There are famous people who widely supported the establishment of
these wind turbines: it was led by the Jesuit priest, Dr. Robert Yap who led
invocation of building these wind turbines and of course blessed these wind
turbines himself (Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para. 8). Together with him are the
former first lady, Former First Lady Imelda Marcos, then Governor Bongbong
Marcos, Former DOE Secretary Vincent Perez, Undersecretary Peter Abaya
(Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para.8). In just one year, it has generated a saving of
P70 million (Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para. 10). The second phase was the
addition of 5 wind turbines making it 20 turbines in total. It was completed in
June 2008 and has increased the total power contribution from 40% to 50% -
this phase has increase the total power capacity to 33 Mega Watts (MW)
(Bangui Wind Farm, n.d., para. 11). The third phase initiates the addition of 6
wind turbines making it 26 turbines and is expected to increase the total
power capacity to 51 MW this phase is hoped to finish by middle 2014(Bangui
Wind Farm, n.d., para. 12).
These wind turbines are fully supported by the government since this is
a renewable source of energy. The law for supporting renewable energy sources
is called Republic Act No. 9513 or AN ACT PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT,
UTILIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
RESOURCES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Including in this law is called the
FIT (Feed in Tarriff) which means that the government will give incentives to
new companies or organization that supplies alternative energy sources such
as wind and solar, but take note that Northwind Power Development
Corporation is not a new company (Banal, 2012). Fortunately, the National
Renewable Energy Board allowed existing renewable energy companies to get
the incentive and it is a fact that only the Northwind Power Development
Corporation benefited from this (Banal, 2012). According to Banal (2012), this
company receives one of the highest electricity cost; the Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC), pays the company about P9.30 per kWh when compared to
other energy sources that is priced only at an average of P3-P4 per kWh. Thats
a really big difference. I believe that the government is doing this to encourage
businessmen to invest wind power or any other renewable energy sources to
the country to of course make the production of power more environmental
friendly.
Of course there is a lot of impacts in the surrounding environment where
the Wind farm is built. There is of course impact in the socio-economic aspect.
I believe that the peoples lives here is largely affected: more positively in terms
of business. Wind turbines here in the Philippines, no all over the Southeast
Asia, is a rare sight thus, having a Wind Farm here in our country will make
it a very famous tourist spot. The place where the Wind Farm is located is near
the beach which it makes it more attractive to customers. Consequently, since
it has the potential to be a very famous tourist spot, Businessmen invests in
Bangui. According to Jimeno (2007), the prices of the real estate near the
Bangui wind farm or within the province has gone up. Well its not that really
surprising because of course tourists need some place to stay, and whats
greater than waking up in the morning sunrise with windmills rotating in your
sight its not a bad deal, in fact it is really good. With hotels upcoming in the
place, there will be more opportunities of employment for the locals they can
apply for being a waiter, chefs, janitors, and any other kind of jobs suited in
that kind of industry. They can also maximize the use of the beach, make boat
rides, surfing etc. Before there were windmills, the locals had an odd job of
collecting pebbles, P50 per sack (Jimeno, 2007). Well I believe that some locals
shifted from collecting pebbles to making souvenirs because during my visit
there, I bought some. It is really a good investment not only for the company
but also for the locals, since I believed that their way of life vastly improved.
Surprisingly, the students near the wind farm wanted to study more seriously
since they dream of being one of the engineers that would handle the wind
farm well its not a bad deal because they have the opportunity to be sent to
Denmark for a 3 week training for the maintenance and operation of the wind
farm. (Jimeno, 2007). The fishermen also has benefitted with the building of
the windmills they use it as shelter when the sun strikes so high (Jimeno,
2007).

The impact on the health of the people that lives nearby the wind farm
are one of the disadvantages of having wind turbines. According to Jimeno
(2007), though wind turbines are very large, the windmills in Bangui have low
mechanical noise. This will be of great news to people who are very irritated to
noise and causing noise pollution because this has been an issue to some of
the wind turbines around the globe some wind turbines create noise and
these noises are the precursors of insomnia to people who live nearby, some
also experience dizziness, fatigue, vomiting and palpitations, though these
signs or symptoms are not in any way related to wind turbines (Jeffery, 2013).
Well, According to Layton (n.d.), There is something in this windmill that can
cause health problems to people near them and some people call this theory
Wind Turbine Syndrome. Though it is not fully understand yet, there is
something in it that makes it sensible. The so called Wind Turbine Syndrome is
initiated by what they call Infrasound a low frequency sound that is believed
to have caused this wind turbine syndrome (Layton, n.d.). The mechanism in
this is similar to that of air pressure: Low air pressure may cause many living
things to dysfunction (bats blood vessels bursting, scuba diving), well so thus
low frequency sound (Layton, n.d.). Though they have low mechanical noise,
but there is still some audible sounds and vibration; and these sounds and
vibrations together with the infrasound contributes to the health problems of
the locals and develop the Wind Turbine Syndrome (Layton, n.d.). The
symptoms of this health problem is headaches, sleep problems. night terrors or
learning disabilities in children. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus), mood problems
(irritability, anxiety), concentration and memory problems, issues with
equilibrium, dizziness and nausea (Layton, n.d.). It has been proved that noise
really cause some health problems, people living near places that has high
noise pollution such as high ways or busy streets can have health problems
such as chronic sleep loss this syndrome is similar to wind turbine
syndrome; thus, lack of sleep will lead to health problems like irritability,
anxiety, concentration and dizziness (Layton, n.d.). The solution to this
problem is very simple: living at least two miles away from the wind turbines
this will lead the locals to sleep properly, and avoid any further health
problems that is associated with sleep.

There are also impacts in the environment when birds or any other
flying animal cross the turbine, it will sometimes kill that animal because of
the energy it produce. But obviously, aside from killing the birds, Having wind
turbines as source of energy obviously save the environment. There is no
emission of carbon unlike burning of fossil fuels, thus has an impact in climate
change. The wind is a renewable energy source unlike fossil fuels so it can be
used up over and over again. This source of energy is what you called today as
environment friendly. There are also some aesthetic impacts argued by the
Europeans who are so used in seeing windmills they say that it ruins the
beauty of nature when they are trying to see any nice view along the way
(Jimeno, 2007). Well for us Filipino, since this is a rare sight we consider
these wind turbines a nice view for us.

The director of Renewable Energy Management Bureau of the DOE,
Mario Marasigan said that there will be a new building of wind farms; though
not in Bangui, but the location is still in Ilocos Norte (Lazaro, 2013). The
location will be in Burgos town and that it will be developed and managed by
the Northern Luzon UPC Asia Corporation (NLUPC), together with other three
giant companies. What is promising in this new wind farm is its capacity it is
said to have the capacity of 87 MW compared to Banguis Wind Farm that
currently has 33 Mw (Lazaro, 2013). Not only in Ilocos Norte, but there are
wind farm projects in Mindoro as well. Not one but two wind farm projects are
developed in this location. One of the developers this time is the Wind Energy
Power System (WEPS), they plan to put up a 48 Mega Watt Capacity in the city
of Calapan (Virolan, 2012). The project should be completed in three phases
consisting of 16 MW per phase and the first phase is expected to be operational
in 2015 (Virolan, 2012). The other developer is the PhilCarbon Inc. and they
plan to put up a 33.4 MW capacity in the city of Bulalacao (Mahusay, 2013). It
plans to construct in 2016 and after 1 and year it is expected to be
operational (Mahusay, 2013).

Consequently, there will be competition since the Bangui will not be the
only place to have a wind farm and I believe that having a competition will be
great since a competition will initiate more development and learnings to each
and company, thus, being more efficient. But it is a fact that Banguis Wind
Farm developed by Northwind Power Development Co. sparked other
businessmen to invest windmills as power production in the county. I believe in
the future, windmills here in the Philippines will not be a rare sight but instead
a common sight like the Europeans who are so sick of seeing windmills. The
popularity of windmills here are steadily increasing and it is very beneficial for
the environment and in turn very beneficial to us and to our future Filipinos.
The development of windmills shows that we Filipinos are engaging to a
sustainable development, thus making us a very environmental country.
Literature Cited


Banal, C. (2012). Gun with the wind. Retrieved from
http://business.inquirer.net/40931/gun-with-the-wind

Bangui Wind Farm (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangui_Wind_Farm

Jeffery, R. (2013) Adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines. Retrieved
from http://www.cfp.ca/content/59/5/473.full

Jimeno, J. (2007) Harnessing The Wind. Retrieved from http://pcij.org/i-
report/2007/wind-power.html

Jimeno, J. (2007). Harnessing the Wind. Retrieved from http://pcij.org/i-
report/2007/wind-power2.html

Lazaro, F. (2013) Construction of 81 megawatt capacity wind farm project in
Ilocos Norte starts. Retrieved from
http://news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=2461380252352#sthash.yPLj
0P7c.dpuf


Mahusay, J. (2013). New wind power project to rise in Mindoro. Retrieved from
http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/10/01/1239953/new-wind-
power-project-rise-mindoro


Office of the Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (n.d.). HISTORY OF WIND
ENERGY. Retrieved from http://energy.gov/eere/wind/history-wind-
energy


Virola, M. (2012). Mindoro wind blows for power, tourism. Retrieved from
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/273728/mindoro-wind-blows-for-power-
tourism

Who Discovered Wind Energy (n.d.) In Yukozimo. Retrieved from
http://discovery.yukozimo.com/who-discovered-wind-energy/