First Gen supplies clean power to Japanese firm

By Alena Mae S. Flores – January 31, 2023, 7:35 pm
from manilastandard.net

First Gen Corp. said Tuesday it is supplying Japanese waste management and recycling company GUUN Co. Ltd. with renewable energy to help achieve its 42-percent target carbon dioxide reduction by 2030.

First Gen’s power marketing, trading and economics vice president Carlo Vega said GUUN made the right choice of switching to RE “to decarbonize its Philippine operations and help its cement plant customers to also do the same.”

“This greening of supply chains is necessary if we truly want to be a part of the solution to our climate crisis and at the same time, future-proof our businesses,” said Vega.

GUUN’s Philippine branch in Consolacion, Cebu produces 8,000 tons of fluff fuel annually, an alternative fuel from waste plastics and residual waste used in cement plants as a substitute for coal.

This type of recycling entails huge electricity that primarily contributes to carbon dioxide emissions because it is usually sourced from coal.

“Looking at all providers of this 24/7 source of RE, we chose to partner with First Gen because of its proven track record in supplying geothermal power to its customers all over the country,” said GUUN senior managing director and general manager Takeshi Konishi.

One of the company’s missions is to find ways to directly or indirectly reduce its carbon dioxide emissions in its recycling activities. GUUN then decided to switch to geothermal energy which can also provide baseload power.

GUUN’s one-year geothermal power supply which started on Sept. 26, 2022 will be supplied by First Gen’s renewable energy arm Energy Development Corp.

GUUN expects a 50-percent to 55-percent CO2 reduction in its entire recycling process locally, equivalent to 261 tons of CO2 emissions from its supply agreement with EDC.

EDC is First Gen’s 100-percent renewable energy subsidiary that has over 1,480 MW total installed capacity and accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total installed RE capacity.

Its 1,185.40-MW geothermal portfolio accounts for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity, making the Philippines the third largest geothermal producer in the world.

Parent firm First Gen is the Philippines’ leading clean energy company. Aside from geothermal, First Gen’s power plants run on hydro, solar wind and natural gas.