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Montelago project in the Philippines to sign second PPA this week

Montelago project in the Philippines to sign second PPA this week Oriental Mindoro, Philippines (source: flickr/ Welcome to my B&B, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 25 Feb 2014

Development company Emerging Power Inc. will become the sole supplier of geothermal power for the entire island of Mindoro, as it is set to sign a second power purchase agreement with a local utility for its 40 MW Montelago project in Oriental Mindoro, Phlippines.

Announced today, Emerging Power Inc. will become “the sole supplier of geothermal energy for the entire island of Mindoro following the signing of another power supply agreement, this time with Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc (Omeco).

In its statement, the company said it will sign a power purchase agreement with Omeco later this week, following a similar agreement reached with Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc for the output of the company’s Montelago geothermal plant.

The project will provide 40 megawatts (MW) of power, with Ormeco and Omeco each receiving 20 MW. EPI is putting up the geothermal plant in Barangays Montelago, Montemayor and Melgar B in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The Department of Energy earlier granted a geothermal renewable energy service contract to Emerging Power, which expects to drill the geothermal prospect by the third quarter of this year. The power plant is targeted to start providing electricity by mid-2016.

Emerging Power is led by Guido Delgado, a former president of state-owned National Power Corp (Napocor).

Mindoro Oriental representative Reynaldo Umali, the House energy committee chairman, said the project, besides providing additional electricity supply, will also bring down the cost of electricity in Mindoro from P11 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to only P6.58/kWh, a 40-percent rate reduction.

“What’s more, we will no longer need subsidy from the main grid. This means consumers from other parts of the country do not need to pay for that subsidy. This will also reduce their electric bill,” Umali added.

Gani Capaning, Emerging Power spokesperson, said the 40 percent reduction would lead to P2.1 billion in electricity bill savings for the people of Mindoro in four years.”

Source: Interaksyon