07/02/2006 - Wendy the Windmill is the affectionate name for Southeast Asia’s first largescale windfarm. The 25 MW Northwind project in Ilocos Norte, northern Philippines, was commissioned in June 2005 with an adventure race organized by the Climate and Energy Program of WWF Philippines. After 3 months of successful operation during which it sold electricity to consumers of the province at a rate 7% lower than prevailing power rates, it’s viability was severely threatened by an Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ruling to re-bundle transmission charges that effectively increased Northwind’s transmission cost from an average of $7,700 a month to $110,000 a month.

Based on Northwind’s estimate, their project would have collapsed in less than 6 months if no solution was found.

WWF Philippines, with the help of a consultant from the University of the Philippines – National Engineering Center (UP-NEC) coordinated with Northwind and worked to reverse the ERC ruling. Through persistent lobbying, the questionable ruling was reversed, much to the relief of Northwind.

The reversed ruling affects all decentralized generators, most of which run on renewable energies.

This means that, fortunately, Wendy the Windmill and her ecofriendly sisters in the Philippines are safe!