Every time we go for an annual family holiday in the Philippines, we always make sure that we treat my parents to an out-of-town trip, somewhere they have never been to.  And since my Papa had been wanting to see the famous Bangui Windmills, this year, the entire family decided to travel all the way up to the North for a four-day tour of the Ilocos province.

I must admit that aside from my papa, I was a bit excited too to finally see and have a close encounter with the famous windmills, which I only often see on photos.  My excitement was even made more intense by the sight of the windmills in the town of Burgos, Ilocos Norte as we went to the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation.

Yes, there are also a number of windmills erected in Burgos, Ilocos Norte because it happened to be an ideal place for wind power installation too.  However, even if the windmills from Burgos just look exactly the same as the ones that can be found in Bangui, in my opinion, the Bangui Wind Farm still appears to be the more captivating attraction between the two.

My mama and papa's up-close and personal encounter with the famous Bangui Windmills.  These wind turbines are truly gigantic!  Standing proud at 70 meters high (equivalent to a 23-storey building), this Godzilla is capable of producing up to a maximum capacity of 1.65 megawatts of electricity. 

Apart from being just a popular tourist attraction of the Ilocos region, these windmills also serve an even more significant role in (1) the production of electricity -- by converting the kinetic energy in the wind to electrical energy through the use of a generator; and (2) reducing greenhouse effect -- by using wind as a renewable energy source.  

Having a total of 27 wind turbines in Bangui, the country's first power-generating windmill farm and the first in Southeast Asia, sums up their electricity production to a maximum capacity of 52 MW, enough to provide 40 percent of the total power needed by the province of Ilocos Norte.  

Isn't that great news!?!  These windmills don't only boost the country's tourism, which provides more job opportunities to their locals, but more importantly, they also help the people of Ilocos Norte have a cheaper source of electricity. Good job to all the geniuses behind this project!

Electric fans are indeed, more fun in the Philippines once you see the breathtaking view of the Bangui Wind Farm! Trust me, this place is definitely worth the travel!

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