Aptly called giant electric fans by the locals, twenty whopping windmills grace the northern coastline of Ilocos Norte facing the windy North China Sea.
Ilocos Norte, 2010
The 23-storey windmills standing 236 meters apart were installed in 2005 and were the first source of clean energy in the Philippines. Together they produce over 30-megawatts of electricity and supply 40% of the province's energy needs. Yet, to put this into some kind of perspective, the entire province consumes only about half the energy of one of Manila's larger shopping malls!
It's hard to grasp the sheer size of the windmills. Each windmill with 41-meter blades stands 70 meters tall and weighs 104 tons. Its tapered tower of steel measures 4.2 meters thick at its base. Look again at the relative small size of the people in the first photo!
There's plenty of environmental incentive to build these alternate energy projects. But unfortunately, without government subsidies, this renewable energy source would hardly be financially viable, even considering this privately-operated one stands to earn millions of euros in carbon credits.
This final photo was taken near sundown from a platform built along the highway specifically for tourists to view the spectacular scenery.
We're sharing stories with the letter W at Alphabe-Thursday and the shadow shot is for, well, Shadow Shot Sunday.