Small Wind Energy System for Motorized Sugarcane Press

The Small Wind Turbine project in Brgy. Lamag is a hybrid system composed primarily of a 1kW wind turbine and a 300 Wp solar installation. The system design will also enable connection to the grid if needed. The electricity generated will run a motorized sugarcane press for the community's muscovado sugar production. This project is a joint effort between the local farmers' PO (BLFDA), SIBAT and APFED/IGES-Japan.

A community consultation was held last September 2009 to formally organize the PO, as well as, familiarize them with the project details. An IGES representative, Ms. Iku Kikusawa, went with the SIBAT team during the visit. Originally, the implementation of the project was supposed to start last October 2009, with the hauling of materials to the site and the construction of the foundations and the powerhouse.

Unfortunately, a series of typhoons visited the Philippines beginning October until November of last year. Although Brgy. Lamag itself was not badly damaged by these typhoons, certain areas on the way to the community suffered heavy landslides and flooding, making travel to the area and the hauling of materials very difficult. Also, the cable bridge connecting Lamag to Cabar-oan was damaged by the flooding of the Balasi-an river.

It was in December last year when the community informed SIBAT that the roads were already cleared and the rivers were now passable. By then, construction materials for the project were hauled to the site, and immediately, the community members started manufacturing some concrete hollow-blocks needed for the powerhouse.

Right after the Christmas holidays, a visit to the area was scheduled to finally start with the implementation of the project. Two SIBAT staffs, an engineer (Lemuel) and a community development officer (Myrna) went to Lamag last January 20, 2010.

Wind Turbine Location at Brgy. Lamag

Objectives of the site visit

1. Construct tower foundations
2. Construct powerhouse
3. MOA signing with the PO
4. Completion of all SEC requirements for PO registration

• Day 1 (January 22)
  • Layout of Tower Foundations and Powerhouse location
  • Meeting with the officers and members of Barangay Lamag Farmers Development Association (BLFDA) to discuss the full requirements that need to be accomplished to be able to register their organization with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
  • Familiarizing the community with the design and plan for the tower foundations and the powerhouse
  • Scheduling of workload and division of labor as counterpart of the PO for the project
• Day 2 (January 23)
  • Clearing the project site involved lifting, rolling and smashing rocks and boulders that were on the way
  • Digging of the foundations was quite a challenge due to presence of rocks and boulders underneath
  • Clearing the location of the powerhouse which occupied an area of 6 ft x 10 ft
• Day 3 (January 24)
  • Meeting with PO officers and members to discuss the content of the MOA
  • Update on the latest list of members and the total amount of membership fee already collected (P25/member)
  • MOA signing
  • Processing requirements for the SEC registration form
• Day 4 (January 25)
  • Assemble steelworks for posts and footings of the foundations
  • Assemble wooden box molds for the foundation posts
  • Leveling the ground at the powerhouse location
• Day 5 (January 26)
  • Adjusting the foundation holes and steelworks in preparation for pouring of concrete
  • Proper alignment of the anchor plates to ensure correct distance in between them
  • Pouring concrete for the foundations
• Day 6 (January 27)
  • Assemble steelworks for the bigger foundation that will be used to secure the gin pole
  • Adjusting the foundation hole and steelwork in preparation for pouring of concrete
  • Assemble a wooden box mold for the foundation post which was 2.5 meters high
• Day 7 (January 28)
  • Completion of SEC requirements
  • Small group meeting with women in the community
  • Pouring concrete for the Gin Pole foundation
  • Start of powerhouse construction
  • Meeting with PO officers to discuss the possibility of transferring the location of the proposed sugarcane press, to an area closer to the barangay road, for easier access to delivery vehicles
• Day 8 (January 29)
  • Measure distances and alignment of finished foundations
  • Powerhouse construction continued
• Day 9 (January 30)
  • Finished with the concrete walls and flooring of the powerhouse, but will have to wait for concrete to fully cure before starting with construction of the roof, window and door

• PO Organizing & SEC Registration
  
  
  
  
  • There were community members who found difficulty understanding what was being discussed during the PO meeting since the SIBAT staffs (Myrna and Lemuel) can neither speak Kankana-ey nor Ilocano, the two widely used dialects in the area. Fortunately, most of the members are very fluent in Tagalog and can speak basic English. An Ilocano language lesson for SIBAT staffs would be a good idea since there are a lot of existing projects in other regions of northern Luzon that are continuously being monitored.
  • At present, with 70 names on the list, about half of the total number of households in the community had already joined the BLFDA, through their respective heads of the family. During the PO meeting last January 22, it was decided by the majority that the membership fee be P25. Given the number of present members, the initial amount collected will not be enough to cover the expected expenses for the association's SEC registration (more than P2,000). The PO members agreed to find creative means to raise the needed funds to cover the deficit, such as encouraging other Lamag farmers to join their association.
  • The SEC requires that each PO member's Tax Identification Number (TIN) be written in the Registration Form, but, almost all of the farmers in the community have no TIN since they do not have regular employment. It was decided that their Community Tax Certificate Number (CTCN) or the cedula be used as replacement for the TIN.
  • Initial efforts were done to promote Gender Awareness at the start of the project. Myrna was able to conduct a small focus-group-discussion with selected wives of PO members to discuss their views and concerns on the project, including the perceived benefits that they can derive from it. However, the PO chairman, who is also an elder, confirmed that indeed in Lamag, being an IP community, projects such as the Small Wind Turbine would involve mostly the men both during construction and operation. But, according also to him, the women might have a greater role in the sugar production process. SIBAT, on its part, is preparing a Gender Awareness Action Plan to go with the project.
• Construction of Tower Foundations & Powerhouse
  
  
  
  
  • It was not just the SIBAT project that got affected by the typhoons that hit the country late last year. Another project intended for Lamag also got delayed because of the difficulty in hauling the materials to the barangay. The project, an extension of their irrigation system, will be implemented sometime during the 4th week of February 2010. Add to that, the community is also tasked to repair the damaged cable bridge with the support of the LGU.
  • The construction of the tower foundations and the powerhouse started at the same time with that of the repair of the damaged cable bridge. Still, the barangay council was able to manage the workload by properly coordinating the rotation of work among the 4 workgroups. These workgroups represented the 4 household clusters comprising the barangay. Daily, one group was working on the SIBAT project and one was working on the LGU project, while the 2 other groups were resting. It was nice to take note that there were members working on the site even if it was supposed to be their designated rest day.
    
    
  • Digging the foundation holes and aligning the posts were quite difficult because of the rocks and boulders found on the ground surface, as well as, those buried underneath. Despite these difficulties, there were negligible errors or misalignments found. This is partly because people in the community were very adept in handling such challenges, using mostly indigenous knowledge and tools learned through years of shared experience.
    
    
  • The next visit is scheduled on the 3rd week of February with the objective of raising the Wind Turbine and installing the Powerhouse electrical. Also, the PO will be given trainings on effective leadership and on simple book keeping.