Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings Inc. (CGPHI) president and general manager, Antonio Yee, said that they are planning to set up new geothermal power plants in the Philippines, instead of bidding on existing ones. In line with this, they have also expressed interest in bidding for geothermal exploration blocks that the Department of Energy (DOE) gives out.

This decision seems to have been aided in part by the passage of the Philippine Renewable Energy Act, which gives fiscal and non monetary incentives to investors who are willing to setup renewable energy projects in the country.
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At the Tiwi-Makban geothermal power plant, 10-15 new geothermal wells are being eyed for drilling by Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc. (APRI) and Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings Inc. (CGPHI) within the next 3 years. Each well is expected to produce about 7MW ~8MW of power. Exploration is expected to start by quarter 2 of 2010.

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Energy Development Corp. (EDC) now owns the 52-megawatt (MW) Mindanao I and 54-MW Mindanao II geothermal power plants after it was turned over to them via a Built-Operate-Transfer Scheme by Mindanao I Geothermal Partnership (M1GP). The two plants, located in Kidapawan North Cotobato, generate about 10.56 percent of the electricity supply for Mindanao.
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Ashmore Investment Management Ltd, a UK based fund management group that was party to the acquisition of Petron by San Miguel, has announced that it is interested in investing in Renewable Energy projects in the Philippines.
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Icelandic company, Geysir Green Energy, announced that they had increased their holdings in Envent Holding Philippines to 80% from their previous 50% share. Envent Holding’s primary engagement in the Philippines is a geothermal joint venture with Filtech Energy Drilling corp in Biliran Geothermal Inc (BGI). BGI had been granted last year a contract for geothermal exploration in Biliran in the Eastern part of the Visayas by the Philippine Department of Energy.

Envent Holdings other investor is Reykjavik Energy Invest. They are Reykjavik Energy’s international business development and investment subsidiary. Reykjavik Energy provides geothermal based energy to Iceland’s grid.
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Energy Development Corp (EDC) of the Lopez Group is said to be remiss in paying their real estate taxes to the local government of Leyte since 2004. The two affected properties are the 132.0 MW Upper Mahiao Power Plant and the 232.0 MW Malitbog Power Plant. Non payment of the real estate taxed would result in the provincial government auctioning off the two geothermal power plants.

So does this mean that part of the loan acquired by EDC from IFC will go to paying off their real-estate taxes?
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