Sec. Angelo Reyes of the Department of Energy announced that they are about to award 3 exploration contracts for Geothermal Power.
The three companies and their respective areas are:
- Guidance Management Corp (GMC) - Amacan, Compostela Valley. $8 million will be spent for geological surveys and $300 million for the construction of 40 MW Geothermal Plant. GMC is composed of a Filipino mining group, Australian mining and energy players.
- Biliran Geothermal Inc.(BGI) - Biliran, Eastern Visayas. $1 million will be spent for surface exploration, $15 million for drilling and $150-$450 million for a geothermal plant. BGI is a joint venture between Filtech Energy Drilling Corp. and Envent Holding Philippines, Inc. Envent’s key shareholders are Reykjavik Energy Invest and Geysir Green Energy of Iceland.
- Basic Energy Corp. - Mabini, Batangas. $3.15 million will be spent for exploration. Basic Energy Corp is a publicly listed company in the Philippine Stock Exchange and has a long history of energy exploration in the county.
According to a report by the Renewable Energy Coalition, the Philippines has a potential geothermal capacity of 4,531 MW. Currently, only 12% of the Philippines Total Energy Capacity is supplied by Geothermal Power.
Electricity by Geothermal Power is made possible by harnessing steam trapped beneath the earths surface. From an economic standpoint it is cheaper than traditional fossil fuel based power sources because no fuel cost is incurred. Unlike other renewable energy sources, geothermal power plants can run 24 hours because it is not affected by the weather or by the availability of the sun. Some of the disadvantages of geothermal energy is that the gas being used is highly corrosive and subject to heat loss therefore affecting the power plants efficiency.
Category: Geothermal
