Alternergy Holdings Corp. has completed an overhead sea-crossing transmission link for its 64-megawatt (MW) Alabat Wind Power Project in Quezon province, clearing the way for the wind farm to deliver electricity to the Luzon grid.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the listed renewable energy developer said the 1.4-kilometer overhead crossing forms part of the project's 37-kilometer, 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission line. The company described the structure as the Philippines' first overhead sea-crossing transmission link developed for a wind power project. Crossing open water is a tougher engineering proposition than running lines over land, with towers exposed to marine conditions and spans stretched across the sea.

The crossing spans the water between Alabat Island and the mainland, supported by two 100-meter-tall lattice towers and two 45-meter-tall towers that carry electricity from the island to the shore.

"The Alabat sea crossing addresses that challenge and demonstrates our ability to deliver complex infrastructure that unlocks the potential of the country's renewable energy resources," Alternergy President Gerry P. Magbanua said.

The transmission line will connect the wind farm on Alabat Island to the Gumaca-Lopez (Hondagua) 69-kV transmission line operated by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), which operates the country's transmission network. That hookup is the physical gateway through which power generated on the island can flow to distribution utilities and, ultimately, consumers across Luzon — the difference between a wind farm that is built and one that is actually supplying the grid.

Once operational, the Alabat facility will comprise eight turbines rated at 8 MW each. Alternergy said these are the largest commercial wind turbines deployed outside China. The development is also positioned as the first wind farm in Quezon province and among the first projects under the Department of Energy's second Green Energy Auction Program, the government's competitive bidding mechanism for awarding renewable energy contracts meant to speed up the country's buildout of clean capacity.

The Alabat project, together with the 128-MW Tanay Wind Power Project in Rizal, is expected to lift Alternergy's operating capacity to approximately 311 MW from 119 MW by the end of the year. With the sea crossing now in place, the remaining milestones for Alabat are bringing the eight-turbine facility operational and starting deliveries to the Luzon grid — the steps that would fold its 64 MW into that year-end figure.

In July, the company entered into a P2.3-billion investment agreement with A Brown Co., Inc., under which the latter will acquire a 40% stake in two wind farm projects.

Alternergy is targeting a renewable energy portfolio of 1,000 MW by 2030 under its Triple Play Portfolio strategy, which spans wind, solar, and run-of-river hydropower.

Shares in Alternergy declined by 1.56% to close at P0.63 apiece on Tuesday.

— Sheldeen Joy Talavera