PGPC to increase geothermal capacity by 300 MW in the next five years
Tiwi geothermal steam field, Philippines (source: PGPC)
Carlo Cariaga
27 Apr 2023
Conglomerate SMIC will be spending PhP 3 billion annually over the next five years to develop 300 MW of additional geothermal capacity for PGPC.
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) has announced that the conglomerate will be spending Php 3 billion (approx. USD 53.8 million) annually over the next five years with the aim of building its geothermal installed capacity to 600 MWe – double the current capacity of the existing Tiwi and Mak-ban geothermal steam fields.
The Tiwi and Mak-ban geothermal fields are operated by the Philippine Geothermal Production Co. Inc. (PGPC), which is 100% owned by SMIC following its acquisition last year. In late 2022, PGPC also announced plans to develop five new geothermal areas in the Philippines with potential additional capacity of 250 to 400 MWe. “We are in the very early stages of exploration in most of those,” commented Ian Jason Aguirre, CFO of PGPC.
“We will be drilling explorations wells for a couple of those exploration areas. The long-term plan is to double our existing capacity of 300 MW to around 600 MW equivalent in the coming years,” Aguirre added.
For more updates on geothermal development in the Philippines, the 4th Philippine International Geothermal Conference will be held on 27 to 28 September 2023. A call for abstracts for the event has been announced.
Source: CNN Philippines
