PBBM to grace Pagudpud wind farm inauguration on May 19

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to grace the inauguration of the 160-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, particularly located in the neighboring barangays of Balaoi and Caunayan on Friday.

Irene Maranan, vice president and head of the Corporate Communications and Sustainability of the Ayala-led energy firm ACEN Corp. confirmed this on Wednesday as preparations are now ongoing for the President's visit.

As of this posting, the company said, 'final event venue and time details to follow' for guests.

A coordination meeting with various concerned government agencies is also ongoing to finalize program details.

As part of the security preparations during any presidential visit, the Ilocos Norte police led by provincial director Julius Suriben has already alerted police personnel for the upcoming event.

"We're on full alert status for the President's visit," said Suriben without disclosing any further details about the ongoing security preparations at the project site.

The latest Pagudpud wind project once fully connected to the grid is expected to double the capacity of its existing 27 units of wind turbines in Sitio Ayoyo, Barangay Caparispisan, also Pagudpud.

'This will become the largest wind farm in the country once completed,' said Gabino Ramon Mejia, president of AC Energy Philippines in an earlier media interview, citing the expanded Balaoi-Caunayan wind farm project has a total investment capital of PHP11.4 billion.

AC Energy said it hopes to become the largest listed platform in the region as it targets to reach a net attributable capacity of 5,000 MW by 2025.