Drilling at Mabini geothermal project progressing in Luzon, Philippines
Discharge of the first well, Mai6D on Maibarara project site, Philippines (source: Maibarara Geothermal Inc.)
Alexander Richter
21 Dec 2016
Basic Energy, Phinma Energy (formerly Trans-Asia Oil) and GDC are progressing on drilling for the 20-60 MW Mabini geothermal project in Luzon, Philippines.
As reported locally, drilling for the Mabini geothermal project is progressing according to the developers Basic Energy Corp., Trans-Asia Oil (now called Phinma Energy) and EDC.
“As of December 5, 2016, a casing (3-1/2”) inch string has been successfully installed at a depth of 660 meters. The next steps shall consist of rig and equipment maintenance prior to resumption of drilling operations,” Basic Energy told Philippine Stock Exchange last week.
“The consortium shall pursue core drilling operations until the target depth of 1500 meters is reached,” it added.
Once done, this will be the second greenfield geothermal project that will be pursued in the Luzon grid, next to the 20-megawatt (MW) Maibarara project in which Trans-Asia is also an interest holder.
Drilling started in June this year and with the exploration well now being drilled, the consortium can “test a potential geothermal resource previously identified by geophysical and geological techniques.”
Basic Energy secured the approval of the Department of Energy (DOE) last year on the 25-percent interest in the project, while Phinma Energy had been the taker of the unloaded equity. Together, the two firms indicated that they will pursue the project’s development – from resource exploration to the setting up of a power facility. The project is expected to have a potential power generation capacity from 20 to 60 MW.
Source: Manila Bulletin
