Energy from a whole lot of wind

THERE is no Don Quixote in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, but Miguel de Cervantes’s delusional knight would certainly feel at home in the remote coastal town up north. As the latest piece in i Report‘s Power and Poisons series recounts, 15 windmills have been helping power up Ilocos Norte for the last two years — as well as attracting tourists in droves.

So far it has been a win-win situation for Bangui folk, who are pleased to be using a unique energy source that is cheap and produces neither waste nor greenhouse gases. The wind farm there also has the distinction of being the first and only one of its kind in Southeast Asia, helping Bangui earn extra pesos from visitors who want to ogle at the windmills. Cagayan and Batanes, however, are now being eyed to host windmills as well, and there is a long-overdue wind farm project in nearby Burgos town.

In the meantime, read more about Bangui’s windmills and windmill technology at pcij.org.