MGI gets COC for Pampanga power station

MAIBARARA Geothermal Inc. (MGI) has secured a Certificate of Compliance (COC) for its 12-megawatts Maibarara-2 power station in Santo Tomas, Batangas.

MGI is a joint venture of PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC, 65 percent), Phinma Energy Corp. (25 percent) and state-owned PNOC Renewables Corp. (10 percent).

PGEC is the renewable-energy holding unit of publicly listed PetroEnergy Resources Corp.

This is MGI’s second geothermal facility approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last April 16.

“The ERC’s approval of Maibarara-2’s COC proves that MGI has fully complied with the technical, operational and financial requirements for the plant’s commercial operations. Our team and partners are proud of this milestone as Maibarara-2, however modest in size, is the first geothermal-power facility to be put up under the Duterte administration and the only geothermal power plant installed in the country since 2014,” MGI President Francisco Delfin Jr. said. Maibarara-2 construction was essentially completed last year along with the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market registration and grid communication protocol requirements set by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

Individual plant-equipment testing started in early-2018, culminating in the synchronization and first delivery of power to the Luzon grid on March 9.

Early this month, the ERC conducted a thorough inspection of Maibarara-2, leading to the eventual COC approval, PGEC Energy Trading Head Dave P. Gadiano said.