EDC income dips in January-March

BY LENIE LECTURA – MAY 10, 2022
from Business Mirror

File photo shows one of EDC’s 12 integrated geothermal power stations.

Energy Development Corp. (EDC) reported a 19-percent decline in net income for the first quarter to P2.63 billion from P3.26 billion in the same period a year ago.

“The decrease was mainly due to higher costs of sale (P1,049.9 million) and higher net provision for income tax (P194.6 million) partly offset by higher revenue (P497.8 million),” the Lopez-led firm said in a regulatory filing.

Its net income is equivalent to 24.2 percent of total revenue for the period as compared to 31.4 percent for the same period a year ago.

“I think Typhoon Odette curtailed our output until mid-January. Our plants are operating but the transmission lines of NGCP National Grid Corporation of the Philippines) were down. Lower wind this first quarter compared to the same period last year,” said EDC Chief Finance Officer Erwin Avante when asked about the factors that affected the company’s bottom line.

EDC has set aside P17 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year. Avante said around P10 billion is allotted for “growth projects” such as the Mindanao 3 project, which was completed last year; Palayan Bayan project, which EDC expects to be completed in the first quarter of 2023; and a number of other projects, which could be issued a notice to proceed later this year.

“We budgeted around P17 billion this year, if I’m not mistaken. About P7 billion of this pertains to drillings and other capex for existing operations. The P10 billion is for the growth projects,” he said.

EDC’s over 1,480MW total installed capacity accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity while its 1,181MW geothermal portfolio accounts for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity and has put the Philippines on the map as the 3rd largest geothermal producer in the world.

It recently inaugurated its 3.6MW Mindanao 3 (M3) binary geothermal power plant, expanding its existing Mount Apo geothermal facility with additional supply of clean, reliable, stable power in Mindanao.

The P1.94-billion binary power plant, which started construction in the midst of the pandemic, will make use of existing brine from EDC’s 103-MW Mindanao 1 & 2 geothermal power facilities to generate additional energy without the need for additional drilling. Heat from the brine will be used to generate electricity by the new power plant before it is re-injected back to the reservoir.