ACEN, partners finish wind turbine installation in Laos

MANILA, Philippines —  Ayala-led ACEN Corp., along with its joint venture partners, has completed the installation of all 133 wind turbine towers for the 600-megawatt (MW) Monsoon Wind Power Project in Laos.

The turbine installation, carried out in mountainous terrain at elevations of up to 1,900 meters above sea level, sets the stage for the project’s commercial operations later this year.

“Throughout the journey, we encountered many challenges. But with a solid foundation, a safety-first installation process that met every standard, and the unwavering dedication of every team involved… we steadily moved toward success,” said Monsoon Wind Power Co. Ltd. (MWP), the joint venture firm.

Upon completion, the $1-billion Monsoon Wind is poised to become the first wind project in Laos and also the first cross-border renewable power facility in Asia.

The electricity generated by the project will be exported to Vietnam and sold through a power purchase agreement with state-owned energy utility provider Vietnam Electricity.

Last February, MWP and Vietnam Electricity completed and connected a double-circuit 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission line crossing the border of Vietnam.

According to MWP, several facilities, including the main 500 kV substation, internal transmission systems and wind turbines, were also commissioned earlier this year.

This marks a crucial step toward achieving partial commercial operation of 300 MW by the second quarter and full activation by the third quarter, the company said.

The project is a partnership with Thailand’s BCPG Public Co. Ltd. and Impact Electrons Siam Ltd., Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and Laos’ SMP Consultation Sole Co. Ltd., with the ACEN Group owning an economic stake of about 24 percent.

Monsoon Wind, ACEN has said, would harness the “vast wind potential” of Laos in line with efforts to “drive the region toward its decarbonization goals.”

As the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, ACEN aims to contribute to the global sustainability push by achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Through its robust project pipeline, the company also intends to scale up its attributable renewables capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2030 from the current seven GW.