DOE To Bid Out 3 New Geothermal Sites

by James Loyola

June 21, 2014

The Department of Energy (DOE)is opening three new geothermal areas, namely Banton Island in Romblon, Balut Island in Davao del Sur and Maricaban Island in Batangas for competitive bidding.

According to Ariel Fronda, Division Chief, Geothermal Energy Management Division, Renewable Energy Management Bureau, the three areas have been identified for private sector development after an open competitive bidding.

“There are three proposed geothermal areas for investors but so far we have determined one that can be offered to the private sector,” he said.

Fronda said that the Balut Island geothermal prospect will be the first to be offered to investors under an open and competitive selection process.

“We are finalizing the terms of reference (for Balut) and target to conduct an open and competitive selection process for the area this third quarter of 2014,” he added.

The Energy Department is pushing for the development of low enthalpy geothermal areas to generate power for the remote areas hosting the resource.

Low enthalpy geothermal areas do not have high heat and thus usually usually lower geothermal potential But the DOE believes that these areas, which are usually on shallow reservoirs, offers a lot of uses such as spa, tourism, crop drying and other agricultural uses.

The department is aiming for a 75 percent increase in the company’s geothermal capacity with a target additional 1,445 megawatts by 2030 with potential investments of totaling P325.125 billion.

Energy director for Renewable Energy Management Bureau Mario Marasigan earlier said the additional capacity represents a 75 percent increase to the current installed capacity of 1,848 MW.

Visayas currently has the highest installed capacity with 915 MW. Luzon has 824 MW and Mindanao has 108 MW of geothermal energy.

Marasigan said bulk of new capacity is expected to come online starting 2015 to 2020 with an additional geothermal installation target of 1,160 MW entailing investments of around P261 billion.

New geothermal areas will account for 930 MW (for the period 2015 to 2020) while the  expansion of existing geothermal fields is expected to contribute 230 MW.

SOURCE: Manila Bulletin

http://www.mb.com.ph/doe-to-bid-out-3-new-geothermal-sites/