DOE holds awarding of geothermal deals

The Department of Energy will not be able to award additional service contracts for geothermal projects today as it wants more time to study the proposals.

According to Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan, the DOE is still evaluating the service contracts earlier offered to investors under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round.

The latest contracts should have been awarded Friday.

So far, the DOE has only awarded five geothermal service contracts, and these went to Biliran Geothermal Inc., Primary Energy Corp., Constellation Energy Corp. and Petroenergy Resources Corp.

The DOE is still evaluating proposals of Clean Rock Renewable Energy Corp., Pan Pacific Power Corp., Lopez-led Energy Development Corp., Envent Holding Philippines Inc., Primary Energy, Magma Energy Corp., PNOC-Renewables Corp. and Aragorn Power and Energy Corp.

Pending proposals cover six prospective geothermal areas in Daklan, Benguet; Natib, Bataan; Labo, Camarines Norte; Isarog, Camarines Sur; Sta. Lourdes-Tagburos, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; and Mainit, Surigao del Norte.

Also under evaluation are service contracts of two companies for the exploration and development of seven prospective “frontier” geothermal areas.

EDC’s unsolicited proposals covered five areas namely Mandalagan-Silay, NEgros Occidental; Balingasag, Misamis Oriental; Mt. Ampiro, Misamis Occidental; Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur; and Mt. Zion, North Cotabato. Four of these five areas are expected to generate some 110 megawatts, data from the DOE showed.

Meanwhile, PNOC-RC has two applications for an 80-MW project in Mainit-Sadanga in the Mt. Province and another 60-MW geothermal power project in Benguet and Ifugao.

The Philippines, with a capacity of 1,987 MW, is the world’s second-biggest producer of geothermal energy after the United States.

The country’s geothermal capacity accounts for about 17 percent of the generation mix, which means that one in every six light bulbs is powered by geothermal energy. (inquirer.net)

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