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Geothermal key element in reaching electricity generation goals by PetroEnergy

Geothermal key element in reaching electricity generation goals by PetroEnergy Discharge of the first well, Mai6D on Maibarara project site, Philippines (source: Maibarara Geothermal Inc.)
Alexander Richter 4 Dec 2017

With nearly two thirds of electricity generated by geothermal, PetroEnergy has reached the 1 billion kWh power generation goal, with the rest contributed by wind and solar plants.

In an announcement today, PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC), the renewable-energy (RE) arm of publicly listed PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (Perc), reports having already generated 1-billion kilowatt-hour (kWh – or around 1,000 GWh/ 1TWh) of electricity over the weekend.

The goal was reached on December 2, 2017, earlier than expected.

“The early achievement of this generation milestone, despite the relatively short period of the plants’ commercial operation and their modest capacities, owe to the efficient operation by our teams and the good availability of the units to the grid,” PERC President Milagros V. Reyes said.

“We are delighted by this milestone not only for our shareholders and Pgec partners but also for their contribution in reducing wholesale electricity spot market [Wesm] prices, as their must-dispatch character displaces more expensive fossil-fired plants in the Wesm dispatch order,” Reyes added.

PGEC’s power production comes from three RE plants: the 20 MW Maibarara-1 geothermal plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas; the 36 MW Nabas-1 wind project in Aklan; and the 50 MW DC Tarlac-1 solar facility in Tarlac City.

Beginning from their respective commercial operation date—February 8, 2014, for the Maibarara geothermal, June 10, 2015, for the Nabas wind and February 10, 2016, for Tarlac-1—these three facilities contributed 62.52 percent, 23.78 percent, and 13.70 percent, respectively, to the aggregate 1-billion-kWh output reached on December 2, 2017.

In Maibarara PGEC (65 percent) is in partnership with Phinma Energy (25 percent) and PNOC Renewables Corp. (10 percent), through the joint-venture firm Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI). In Nabas it holds 40-percent equity in operator PetroWind Energy Inc. (PWEI) with EEI Power (20 percent) and Thailand-based BCPG (40 percent). PetroSolar Corp. (PSC), owner and operator of Tarlac-1 solar, is jointly owned by PGEC (56 percent) and EEI Power (44 percent).

PGEC currently supplies 8.4 percent of wind power and 5.94 percent of solar capacities in the country. MGI’s expected commissioning of the 12-MW Maibarara-2 unit this December will bring the field’s total gross capacity to 32 MW.  PGEC plans to develop an additional 400 MW of renewable-energy capacity in the next five years.

PERC Assistant Vice President Maria Victoria Olivar said that the company’s oil operations also achieved a  milestone.

Source: Business Mirror