National Power Corporation has teamed up with a South Korean company to test new technology enabling the use of wind energy in remote areas not connected to the main electricity grid.
ODIN Energy Co. Ltd. of South Korea is putting up a 120-kilowatt (kW) wind-power tower in the country this year at no cost to the Philippine government.
On Tuesday this Korean firm Odin Energy Co. and National Power Corp. (Napocor) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to formalize Odin’s investment in the Philippines worth over $2 million.
Odin Energy came to the Philippines with the help of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which scouts for Korean firms interested in investing in the Philippines.
Lee Hyuk, the South Korean ambassador, said Odin Energy’s technology will help address the challenge in providing electricity in off-grid areas.
It’s an innovative and renewable power generation technology from South Korea that uses wind may become an alternative source of electricity in the Philippines.
The project in the Philippines will be Odin Energy’s first venture outside South Korea. The company is already testing the same technology in Jeju Island.
Odin Energy president Baek Young-mi and National Power Corp. president Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita signed an agreement to construct the first wind generation tower in the country.
“We choose the Philippines as a testing model country because it is one of the most important countries in the region in terms of energy sector. After this, we will spread our renewable-energy technology to the rest of the world,” Odin Energy President Baek Young-mi said.
The wind-generation tower is a roof-level structural system for power generation and distribution to be installed atop buildings with at least 10 stories and above. The Napocor has yet to decide where to put up the wind tower.
“We are looking at different sites. We will choose one among Ticao Island in Masbate, Pulilio Island in Quezon and Lubang Island in Mindoro. This is only a 120-kW facility but, since it is hard to deliver fuel to a lot of islands in the Philippines, this will be very helpful,” Napocor President Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita said.
“Korea’s wind turbine tower can supply electricity at the ideal rate of R1.15 per kilowatt-hour, which can certainly find very promising,” she said.
Korea’s wind turbine tower is four times more efficient than vertical axis-type and two times more than propeller-type in terms of generation capacity.
The wind generation tower is suitable for communities in far-flung areas as it does not require large-scale construction of a transmission network.
It can also be installed on top of residential and commercial buildings since its noise level and vibration are below emission standards.
