Energy Development Corp. opens branch in Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines - The Energy Development Corp., the geothermal and renewable energy development arm of the Lopezes, has put up a representative branch in Indonesia.

EDC president & CEO Paul Aquino told reporters over the weekend that the formation of the branch is necessary for the company to intensify its operations in that country.

Aquino said they are exploring different ways to conduct business in Indonesia.

 “There is this third type of investment window. This is the so-called preliminary survey of geothermal sites,” he said.

Under this scheme, he said a company may get to choose an unexplored area in Indonesia where they would want to conduct a survey. 

After the preliminary survey, he said, the company has an option to bid for the development of the area or if not, it will be reimbursed for the expenses it spent for the surveys or, it may even be given a chance to have the right of first refusal.

He said they have identified four areas in Indonesia where they can conduct the surveys. However, the EDC president declined to identify the survey locations as they are still in the preliminary stages of negotiations.

He earlier noted that there are about 20,000 MW of untapped geothermal resources in Indonesia.

EDC is also looking at other investment opportunities in other countries in South Asia and the Middle East.

At present, EDC is awaiting word from Lihir Gold Ltd. on whether it will renew its drilling contract at least for another year in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

“We might be able to extend our contract for drilling operations in PNG,” he said.

LGL, which is one of the leading gold producers in the Asia Pacific region, sources most of its power requirements for its gold mine and processing facility from geothermal energy.

It has announced that it is ramping up its gold output to one-million ounces per year and thus needs to expand its existing 56 MW geothermal power plant by an additional 40 MW to support its expansion program.

EDC’s contracts with LGL have been its major source of drilling revenues since 1999. 

The company’s drilling group is currently upgrading its rigs and other drilling equipment to bag more drilling contracts overseas.