EDC adds more geothermal power projects in portfolio
BY BUSINESSMIRROR – DECEMBER 19, 2022
LOPEZ-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is adding more geothermal power projects in its portfolio of 1,185 megawatts (MW) meant to support the Philippines’ clean energy transition and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
EDC’s total installed capacity has now reached 1,480MW. Of this capacity about 1,185MW accounts for its geothermal portfolio, including its first 3.6-MW Mindanao-3 (M3) binary project that was just completed last year.
EDC Assistant Vice President and Head of Public Relations Allan V. Barcena said the company is looking at 100MW of geothermal power projects that will be added to its portfolio starting next year. These are the following: 29-MW Palayan Bayan binary plant; 20-MW Tanawon geothermal project in Bicol; 28-MW Mahanagdong binary plant in Leyte; and, a 50-MW greenfield project in Mindanao.
“The Palayan Bayan is expected to be completed by second week of second quarter next year. The Tanawon will start construction in the last quarter of the year,” said Barcena. “We are still in the process of getting the permits for its construction. For Mahanagdong; I think it will start construction early next year.”
Binary plants, he said, are cheaper and easier to put up than geothermal projects because they utilize existing assets. For instance, Barcena said its M3 binary plant makes use of existing brine from EDC’s 103-MW Mindanao 1 and Mindanao 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.
USTDA grant
EDC recently received a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) for the conduct of a feasibility study for its planned greenfield geothermal power project in Mindanao.
Barcena said executives are “excited” about EDC’s new concession, which is in Amacan, Davao Oriental.
“This is the one funded by the USTDA; but it’s just for the feasibility. But the area is quite big, so we’re excited,” he said.
The USTDA’s study will help EDC confirm geothermal resource availability and conduct initial technology and financial assessments.
The EDC said last week that it is piloting the use of electric vehicles (EV) fueled by steam energy from the charging station that it built at its Tongonan geothermal power plant in Kananga, Leyte. It is also looking at renting electric buses that will shuttle its employees to its project sites and put up EV charging stations in its host city, starting off with Ormoc City in Leyte.
EDC’s 711-megawatt Leyte geothermal facility currently supplies more than 30 percent of the country’s installed geothermal capacity. It is also responsible for putting the Philippines on the map as the world’s 3rd largest geothermal producer and has been providing a reliable supply of clean power to the Luzon and Visayas regions for almost 40 years.
