EDC keen on expanding geothermal portfolio

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) remains interested to expand its geothermal portfolio in four key markets despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Although the COVID situation and the accompanying travel restrictions have caused some delays in EDC’s activities in Indonesia and Taiwan, the company continues to be keen on those markets,” EDC said in an e-mail response.

EDC has been looking at the Graho Nyabu project in Indonesia, which the government auctioned off the concession to develop the geothermal resource in Sumatra.

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Last year, the company said it intends to start civil works and drilling in the Sumatra project in the next two to three years.

EDC has also been in talks with local concession holders in Taiwan for possible partnership and to offer its technical expertise in geothermal development.

Meanwhile, EDC said it continues to undertake pre-development works in Peru and Chile for potentially larger geothermal capacity additions.

“EDC is also continuing with its pre-development activities in its geothermal concessions in Indonesia, Chile, and Peru,” the firm said.

The Lopez firm has a joint venture agreement with Canada-based energy company Alterra Power Corp. for geothermal projects in Chile and Peru, but these have been put on hold due to challenging economic conditions.

For this year, EDC plans to spend $280 million to catch up on its drilling and investments since the pandemic postponed key activities last year.

Bulk of the amount covers the development of EDC’s binary growth projects, namely the 3.6-megawatt (MW) Mindanao 3 and the 29-MW Palayan Bayan project.

EDC has commended the construction of the P6.4-billion Palayan Bayan binary plant and the expansion of its Bacon-Manito (BacMan) geothermal power plant in Albay, which is targeted to be completed in the second half of 2022.

In the next four years, the company is investing up to P12 billion to further expand the BacMan geothermal power plant, including the Palayan binary plant, to be followed by the Tanauan plant.

The company is also constructing the 3.6-MW Mindanao 3 binary plant with target completion in the first half of 2022. This expands the 52.3-MW Mindanao I and 50.93-MW Mindanao II geothermal power plants in Mt. Apo.

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EDC is a globally renowned geothermal company operating 12 geothermal power plants which have a combined installed capacity of 1,204.67 MW, making EDC the largest vertically integrated geothermal power producer in the world.

Its other existing projects include the 150-MW Burgos wind farm, the 6.8-MW Burgos Solar plant, the 5.17 MW EDC Siklab solar plant, the 120-MW Pantabangan hydropower plant, and the 12.5-MW Masiway hydropower plant, for a total of 1,499.14 MW capacity.

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Article and Photo originally posted by Philippine Star last May 26, 2021 12:00am and written by Danessa Rivera.

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