Aetas, SBMA ratify green energy project

The Aetas of Pastolan in Subic Bay Freeport has ratified the expansion of  wind and solar energy projects in its ancestral land as part of their commitment to sustainable development.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), through Emerging Power Inc. (EPI), a renewable energy (RE) firm, will allocate US$200M to its renewable energy project which will cover 800 hectares of Mount Santa Rita, a Pastolan ancestral land, in observance of a Joint Management Agreement (JMA).

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia signed on October, 2013 a joint management agreement covering partsof the Ayta ancestral domain in the Subic Bay Freeport with Pastolan Ayta chieftain Conrado Frenilla (right)and NCIP Region 3 director Ronaldo Daquioag. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

“We are proud that the Pastolan Aetas have been very supportive in this milestone. This partnership is a witness that preservation of heritage and sustainable development can work together without being compromised,” SBMA Chairman Roberto V. Garcia said.

“We are helping each other by moving forward with our plans for the preservation of our future generation,” Garcia added.

The JMA was signed and witnessed on October 10, 2013 by SBMA, The Aetas, and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). The said project will generate a total of 150-megawatts of RE.

The agreement was forged to protect and preserve the rights of the Aetas along with the implementation of socio-economic and cultural development programs by SBMA.

The groundbreaking of wind and solar power farm, which happened on October 2015, was the first wave of its expansion.

Chairman Garcia assures that the Pastolan Aetas will benefit from this expansion, same with the turnover of P14.8M cheque to the Aetas as payment for lease rentals by the locators within the ancestral domain.

“We are giving a priority job hiring to the Aetas for the construction of more solar and wind power plants. The welfare of our brothers and country will always be important to us,” Garcia said.

The expansion is a collaborative action of SBMA and Indigenous Peoples to uphold RA 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act in 2008 to invest on RE projects. This also serves as their support in the global commitment of Philippines to reduce greenhouse gas emission at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21).

“As the first military base to be successfully converted into a Freeport zone, we are reaching greater heights by playing a vital role in the preservation of both cultural heritage and environment with the installation of a major clean energy project in partnership with Indigenous Peoples,” Garcia said.

Read More

Emerging Power to upgrade Subic project

Renewable Energy (RE) company Emerging Power Inc. (EPI) is partnering with California-based tech firm Amber Kinetics for the Flywheel Battery Storage Technology in the 150 Megawatt (MW) solar and wind power project in the Subic Bay.

“Amber Kinetics’ technology will be very useful in smoothing out the energy generation of our Solar and Wind farm by taking out the variability. We are very excited to work with Amber and hopeful that this milestone deal will be replicated in future renewable energy projects in the country,” EPI Head of Marketing Alberto Guanzon said.

EPI is looking at acquiring 10-MW worth of Multi-hour Flywheel Battery Systems from Amber Kinetics for the Subic project. The company will be the first to use the technology for a utility scale power plant in the Philippines.

Flywheel energy storage works by rotating steel rotors at very high speeds, allowing the system to store energy. In effect the flywheel is a reservoir for kinetic energy which can be drawn out at any time.

Aside from dealing with the variability of solar and wind energy, Amber Kinetics’ state of the art flywheels will also provide multi-hour flexible capacity to the transmission.

Amber Kinetics’ technology has demonstrated the ability to store and release electricity for hours. It also offers unlimited cycling for a 30-year lifespan with no degradation. These attributes make it ideal for integrating utility scale renewable energy and transmission.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Emerging Power to integrate energy storage into the 150MW solar and wind farm in Subic Bay. We believe that our multi-hour flywheels are an ideal technology solution to help EPI smooth the variability of solar and wind generation into the transmission system. The EPI team is incredibly forward thinking and we are excited to be working together,” Amber Kinetics CEO Edward Chiao said.

EPI is majority owned by Nickel Asia Corporation, one of the country’s biggest mining firms. The miner has guaranteed up to P3 billion the loan facility of EPI over three years to finance the RE projects all over the country. (Voltaire Palaña, Manila Times)

PHOTO: Image c/o EPI

http://www.manilatimes.net/emerging-power-to-upgrade-subic-project/250791/

Read More

Subic hosts largest solar power project in Southeast Asia

This premier free port is expecting to be in the forefront of sustainable development as it eyes the installation here of a $200-million combined solar and wind farm that would generate a total of 150 megawatts of renewable energy.

“This is another pioneering role on the part of the Subic Bay Freeport, which is the first military base to be successfully converted into a free port zone,” Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia said in a media briefing on Monday.

“​It will also​ be one of the first major clean energy projects in the country and the biggest solar installation in the whole Southeast Asia, and it is a big honor for Subic to be the project site,” Garcia noted​.

“This is very significant since the whole world is looking at renewable energy nowadays,” he added.

The $200-million alternative energy project will be undertaken by Emerging Power, Inc. (EPI), a renewable energy firm that has put up a 40-megawatt geothermal power plant in Mindoro last year.
EPI is controlled by Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC), one of the country’s biggest mining firms in the country.

The clean energy project will be located in an 800-hectare project site on Mount Santa Rita here, which is covered by the Pastolan Ayta tribe’s ancestral domain.

Garcia said the company hopes to have the Subic solar and wind power project on stream by next year.

He said the project is in line with RA 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which aims to accelerate the exploration and development of renewable energy resources, increase utilization of such and promote their efficient and cost-effective commercial application. The law was also designed to effectively prevent or reduce harmful emissions to protect public health and the environment.

The development and promotion of renewable energy has been set as among the priority projects of the national government under the Investment Priorities Plan of 2012, Garcia added.

Garcia said the EPI project will be a pioneering venture for the establishment of renewable energy facilities in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

“This is a big stride towards sustainable development,” Garcia added. “It will help us keep Subic green and make the Freeport grow further.” (HEE/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Roberto V. Garcia (4th from left) and Emerging Power Inc. President Martin Antonio Zamora (3rd from left) lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the 150-megawatt solar and wind power project in the Subic Bay Freeport zone. (AED/MPD-SBMA)

Read More