ALTERNERGY Tanay Wind Corp., a subsidiary of Alternergy Holdings Corp., has applied for approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to construct a transmission facility that will link its Tanay Wind Power Plant Project (TWPPP) to the Luzon grid.

Alternergy Tanay aims to construct dedicated point-to-point limited transmission facilities at an estimated cost of P2.2 billion, the company said in its filing with the ERC.

Based on the application, Alternergy Tanay is proposing to build a 112-megawatt (MW) wind farm with a dispatchable capacity of up to 99.2 MW.

The project has a total cost of P10 billion, of which up to P8 billion in funding came from the Bank of the Philippine Islands and Security Bank Corp.

To connect the wind farm to the Luzon grid, the company is proposing to construct a bus-in connection along the existing San Jose/Balsik – Tayabas 500-kilovolt transmission line.

Alternergy Tanay first proposed to link the Tanay Wind Power Plant Project to the grid via a direct connection to the proposed Baras Substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

However, in its first system impact study, it was found that NGCP’s proposed Baras Substation is scheduled to be completed only by 2034, which is nine years after the target commercial operations of the Tanay project in 2025.

“Thus, [Alternergy Tanay] sought an interim connection scheme because the first proposed connection of [Tanay Wind Power Plant Project] was not technically feasible by 2025 due to the construction timeline of the NGCP Baras Substation,” the company said.

Hence, the company proposed to NGCP an interim connection for the TWPPP via a bus-in connection along the grid operator’s existing transmission line.

The wind project’s transmission will be transferred to the final connection scheme once NGCP’s proposed Baras Substation has been completed, which will be subject to a new system impact study.

“The [Tanay Wind Power Plant Project] is targeted to be operational by the year 2025. Hence, there is an urgent need for the immediate issuance of a provisional authority to start the construction of the interconnection project,” the company said.

Alternergy aims to develop up to 500 MW of additional wind, solar, and run-of-river hydro projects.

At the local bourse on Tuesday, shares in the company dropped by 1.05% to close at P0.94 each. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera