Philippines gets support for green agenda

MANILA, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The Asian Development Bank said it signed a finance agreement to help support operations at the largest wind farm of its kind in the Philippines.

ADB, which has headquarters in Manila, signed a $20 million finance assistance agreement with an international consortium of banks and the local EDC Burgos Wind Power Corp. to help with the development of the company's 150 megawatt wind farm on the northern Philippines island of Luzon.

"The operation of this farm will avoid the production of over 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions a year, making it a sustainable energy source for the country," Christopher Thieme, director of ADB's private sector operations department, said in a statement.

The government of the Philippines set a goal of installing about 2,870 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and the ADB said the financial assistance would be a "shot in the arm" to tapping into the full estimated 250,000 MW of potential renewable energy available.

The Philippines aims to boost its renewable energy capacity in an effort to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. In early 2015, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said the Philippines was among the regional economies expected to account for the bulk of the growth in new oil demand.

While the country already has a relatively robust renewable energy footprint in the form of hydropower and geothermal, coal use is expected to accelerate because of an increase in demand from its coal-fired power plants.

"This Burgos wind farm is a major contributor to the government's drive to scale up renewable energy use and to reduce its reliance on coal and petroleum for power generation," Thieme said.