News

Maibarara geothermal project secures critical market access and grid requirements

Maibarara geothermal project secures critical market access and grid requirements Maibarara Geothermal Plant, Philippines (source: Maibarara Geothermal Inc.)
Alexander Richter 8 Dec 2017

Maibarara Geothermal Inc. has secured approval on the registration of its 12 MW extension project as a Wholesale electricity spot market participating facility and fulfilment of necessary connection requirements for the national grid in the Philippines.

In a release this morning, Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI) reports having secured approval from the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) of the registration of its 12 MW Maibarara-2 geothermal project as a Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) participating generation facility.

PEMC had earlier included Maibarara-2 in its Market Network Model, indicating that the facility’s dispatch schedules can be accurately monitored in the WESM.  These PEMC approvals came after MGI successfully installed and tested, with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) and SCADA System of Maibarara-2 in Sto. Tomas, Batangas on November 15.

“The completion of these two critical WESM and grid connection requirements is a significant milestone for MGI as these are technical prerequisites for eventual commercial operations.” MGI President F. G. Delfin, Jr., said.

MGI also completed on November 18, with Japan’s Fuji Electric, the target plate testing of M2 steam, a pre-commissioning activity in which the quality of the steam that will pass through the turbine blades is assessed. MGI Steamfield Manager Pedro G. Callos declared, “Results of the said test showed that the supply steam for Maibarara-2 complies with Fuji Electric’s very high standards. This target plate testing is the culmination of the commissioning and testing of Maibarara-2’s steam gathering system which started in April 2017 with the steam flushing of the completed steam piping system and additional flow tests of supply well MB-15D.”

MGI is a joint venture of PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC, 65%), PHINMA Energy Corp. (25%), and PNOC Renewables Corp. (10%).  PGEC is the renewable energy holding company of publicly-listed PetroEnergy Resources Corporation (PERC).

PGEC Head of Energy Trading Dave P. Gadiano disclosed, “The WESM registration of Maibarara-2 clears the way for the facility to export power to the grid during the commissioning stage. The testing and commissioning of Maibarara-2 is estimated to start by middle of December. Export of power to the grid is expected soon after commissioning starts.”

Source: Company release by email