Lubang Island site visit

Lubang Island is another of the proposed sites for a wind turbine. The island is situated north of Mindoro Occidental and has a population of about 30,000. The proposed application for the wind turbine in Lubang was for water pumping. The Municipal Planning Office proposed 4 potential sites that fit the criteria for a wind turbine and required a water pumping system.

Sitio (hamlet) Kusang Loob was identified as the site with the greatest potential. There are 107 households and a population of approximately 500 people. They currently hand pump their water from wells in the sitio. There is an exposed hill, elevated 12m above the sitio, that has an existing borehole. The wind turbine will pump water to a storage vessel on the hill and use gravity to distribute the water.

The anemometer installed on a bamboo pole at the proposed site.

According to the NREL wind atlas (developed by the US Renewable Energy Agency) the site has an excellent wind potential. The National Power Corporation are investigating the site for a large wind farm for electricity generation. The NREL wind atlas has mapped the potential wind resource of the entire Philippines using surface and satellite data. The data is useful to identify potential sites on a macro scale but cannot be used for detailed system design or wind turbine placement.