ALTERNERGY Tanay Wind Corp. (ATWC), a unit of Alternergy Holdings Corp., has received approval from the Energy department to increase the capacity of the Tanay Wind Power Project in Rizal.

ATWC will be able to increase the wind power project’s capacity to 128 megawatts (MW) from 112 MW previously, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

With higher capacity, the project cost has also increased to P11.5 billion from P10.4 billion previously.

“We conducted a technical optimization study which showed that the potential net energy within the production area could generate as much as 128 MW of capacity,” said Knud Hedeager, president of Alternergy Wind Holdings Corp., the sub-holding company for wind assets.

With the approval from the Department of Energy, the Tanay Wind Power Project will be installed with a total of 16 wind turbine generators with a rated capacity of eight MW.

The construction of the project has secured financing of up to P8 billion from the Bank of Philippine Islands and the Security Bank.

It will be Alternergy’s second wind project in Rizal province, on top of the 54-MW Pililla Rizal Wind Project which has been operating since 2015.

Construction of the project started in June with target commercial operations by the end of 2025.

ATWC has sought the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission to construct a transmission facility that will link the Tanay wind farm to the Luzon grid.

Alternergy aims to construct dedicated point-to-point limited transmission facilities at an estimated cost of P2.2 billion.

The company is targeting to develop up to 500 MW of additional wind, solar, and run-of-river hydro projects.

Shares in the company on Wednesday climbed by 2.71% to P0.94 apiece. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera