Lagawan

Last November, I was in Ilocos for an event and had an opportunity to visit Vigan, Paoay, Batac, Pagudpud,  Burgos and Bangui among others. Ilocos is really an amazing place! And since the Final leg of the Friendship Kayak Expedition was rescheduled(the next day) due to bad weather, we decided to visit Bangui Windmills, Cape Bojeador, Patapat Bridge and Blue Lagoon.

Our first stop was the Bangui Wind Farm – the first and the largest wind farm in South East Asia. It is located in the coastline of Barangay Baruyen in the sleepy town of Bangui in Ilocos, Norte. The 20 giant windmills are really amazing! I could say, it is one of the most beautiful man-made mechanical structures I ever saw.

View of Bangui Windmills from Kangkang Windmill Cafe

The Bangui Windmills are located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The windmills, officially referred to as the NorthWind Bangui Bay Project, were a project by the NorthWind Development Corporation as a practice renewable energy sources and to help reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The project is the first “Wind Farm” in the Philippines consisting of wind turbines on-shore facing the South China Sea and considered to be the biggest in Southeast Asia. The project sells electricity to the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) and provides 40% of the power requirements of Ilocos Norte via Transco Laoag. (Wikipedia)

When we were in the coastal of Bangui, only 17 turbines were working but after an hour or so, while we were having our lunch in Kangkang the remaining 3 turbines started to work. The people in Kangkang said that the 3 turbines were under maintenance for a couple of days already.

Each windmills is 70 meters tall with 41 meters blades that is capable of producing electricity up to a maximum capacity of 1.65 mega-watt, totaling to 24.75 mega-watts all in all. The windmills started supplying electricity to 40% of Ilocos Norte in May 2005. And this is the first source of clean energy introduced in the country.

Well, after lunch and videoke time, off we went to our next stop – the town of Burgos to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site, Cape Bojeador.

Getting There

From Laoag, take the Laoag – Cagayan route towards Burgos. After reaching Burgos, watch out for the directional marker on the left side of the road that leads to the Bangui Bay. Follow the dirt road leading to the bay. Some wind mills will already be visible from this point then make a right turn to the bay. Travel time from Laoag will approximately be an hour and a half.