ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News

EDC plans $60 million retrofit of Tongonan geothermal plant

EDC plans to invest up to $60 million into a retrofit of its 112.5 MW Tongonan geothermal power plant, expecting a 10% increase in production.

Reported from the Philippines, Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has announced capital expenditure plans of up to P7 billion ($140 million) this year to work on efficiency improvements of its power plants.

During a stockholder meeting today, EDC President Richard Tantoco said P3 billion ($60 million) of the programmed capex has been allocated for its 112.5-megawatt (MW) Tongonan geothermal power plant in Leyte.

“One unit is now on shutdown. Another unit will follow. We are changing the whole turbine to increase the output by 10 MW and decrease steam consumption by 9 percent,” said Tantoco, who added maintenance shutdown would last for 110 days.

He said the retrofit of Tongonan’s two units is on track to be completed by the third quarter. “After the retrofit, it will be as good as new and we expect an increase of up to 10 percent in its total capacity,” he said.

Tantoco said EDC capex, as well as operational expenses, would be sourced from internally generated funds.

The company also reported a modest growth in revenues and profits.

The improved performance was primarily driven by higher average prices from its key geothermal units by 9.8 percent and a 39.4-percent increase in generation volumes of its Unified Leyte geothermal plants and Burgos wind farm, respectively.

“This year would be more flattish, slightly better than 2016’s revenue and income. I would say modest single-digit growth because as we’ve said toward the end of the year, there’s a lot of maintenance unlike last year,” Vasay said.

Source: Business Mirror

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