News

EDC subsidiary signs 49MW PPAs for Tongonan and Palinpinon plants

EDC subsidiary signs 49MW PPAs for Tongonan and Palinpinon plants Palinpinon geothermal plant, Philippines (source: Commons/ Wikimedia)
Alexander Richter 30 May 2010

reen Core Geothermal Inc (GCGI), a subsidiary of publicly-listed Energy Development Corporation (EDC), inked separate supply agreements with two electric cooperatives that committed aggregate 49 megawatts from its Tongonan and Palinpinon geothermal plant acquisitions.

Reported from the Philippines, “Green Core Geothermal Inc (GCGI), a subsidiary of publicly-listed Energy Development Corporation (EDC), inked separate supply agreements with two electric cooperatives that committed aggregate 49 megawatts from its Tongonan and Palinpinon geothermal plant acquisitions.

Both supply pacts have 10-year durations, and are both intended to meet the electricity needs of the said ECs serving franchise areas in the Visayas.

The deal with Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO) entails GCGI to supply it with 18 megawatts of its requirements for year 2010; and 10 megawatts over years 2011 to 2020.

For Iloilo Electric Cooperative I (ILECO I), the level of supply committed by GCGI will be 3.0 megawatts for years 2010-2012 and 18 megawatts from 2012 to 2022.

The 192.5- megawatt Palinpinon and 112.5-MW Tongonan plants have been GCGI’s acquisition from the privatization auction concluded by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) last year.

In a press statement, EDC president and chief operating officer (COO) Richard B. Tantoco noted that “EDC’s long-term contracts with these two cooperatives will support the growth needs of the two cooperatives with clean, reliable and affordable power.”

He said there are bright prospects for clean energy with the industry’s leaning pointing to maximized utilization of resources that shall direct markets to low-carbon paths.

“Since the industry is leaning more towards clean energy, EDC, with its 34-year head start in the geothermal business, is well positioned to address the supply shortage in the Visayas grid,” Tantoco stressed.

AKELCO general manager Chito Peralta, on one hand, intimated that securing power supply has always been a challenge for the electric cooperative given physical realities that its franchise area is located at the grid’s tail-end.

But with the concluded supply pact with Green Core, the EC official noted they would now be able “to augment the power supply of the province and encourage more tourists to visit Boracay.”

The service areas of AKELCO cover 17 municipalities in Aklan and two municipalities in Antique.

As far as prices are concerned, Tantoco explained that “the pricing of indigenous renewable energy resource such as geothermal is independent of any indexation to movements in global energy indices.”

This then gives ILECO 1 general manager Wilfred Billena sense of confidence that “the contracts will also result in lower power rates for us in Iloilo.” The electric cooperative’s franchise area covers 15 municipalities. (MMV).”

Source: Manila Bulletin