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LEGAZPI
CITY—A local property developer has tied up with a
California-based Filipino-American industrialist for the
establishment of a $4-million windmill power facility
that would put Albay along the mainstream of clean
energy providers in the country.
The
tie-up is between Elizalde Co, president of the
Sunwestville Realty and Development Corp. (SRDC), the
biggest and most reputable property developer in the
Bicol region, and Larry Asera, one of the leading
windmill and solar-power providers in California.
Asera
along with his American consultants and engineers was in
town over the weekend to formalize the joint-energy
venture with Co. He said that the project is in
anticipation of an energy crisis in the country that is
expected to worsen beyond 2010.
This
would be the biggest single investment that will provide
clean energy source in the region to be established
within a 20-hectare mountainous island property in
Cagraray Island off Bacacay, Albay, Co said.
The
property overlooking Albay Gulf is also the site of the
SRDC-owned, P500-million Misibis Residential Resort and
Spa that Asera acknowledged as “the first-ever green
hotel and resort with five-star amenities in the
Philippines,” soon to be energized with wind-driven
power generators.
Misibis
boasts of exclusive luxurious residences within a
sprawling elevated terrain, boasting clean and fine
white-sand beaches developed by SRDC into a world-class
ecotourist resort.
Lying
some 20 km northeast of this city, the site could be
reached by land through a paved, winding road—hugging
mountainsides on one side and the sea on the other, and
linked by a 150-meter concrete bridge over the gentle
waters of Sula Channel that separates the island from
Bacacay town proper.
Misibis
also relives the importance of Cagraray Island as
historical jewel of Bicol being the cradle of the
region’s civilization about 300 centuries ago based on
historical records of archaeological relics found in the
island between 1879 and 1881 by Spanish explorer Juan
Alvarez Guevara.
The
archaeological findings say sacred burial jars were
found in caves within the island, and local historians
suggested that those relics are evidence of the ancient
civilization of Bicol some 300,000 years back.
“Its
historical importance for the Bicol Region also serves
as our inspiration in developing Cagraray Island into an
ecotourism spot complete with world-class facilities,
including this windmill power generating project that
would also serve as an industrial landmark of clean
energy source for Albay,” Co said.
The
windmill power project, adhering to the principle of
creating balance between development and environmental
conservation, is expected to be completed in October so
that it starts energizing the entire island before the
end of this year, he said.
It is
also in accordance with recommendations of the
Philippine Wind Atlas and the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, which identified the island as having a high
potential for wind energy source, Co said. |
