EDC completes takeover of 2 geothermal plants

MANILA, Philippines – Energy Development Corp. (EDC), the geothermal power development arm of the Lopez Group, has finalized the takeover of two geothermal power plants from Japanese firm Marubeni Corp.

The turnover of the two plants, which have a combined capacity of 106 megawatts (MW) and located in EDC’s Mindanao Geothermal Production Field (MGPF) in North Cotabato, is scheduled on Thursday, June 18.

EDC president Paul Aquino earlier said the turnover of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) plants will enable the company to earn P25 million in additional revenues every month.

Aquino said the takeover is part of the company’s major platforms to achieve future growth.

He said taking over the Mindanao geothermal facility is also consistent with the firm’s plan to engage in various organic growth activities.

EDC started commercial operations in 1984 as a government-owned and controlled corporation tasked to accelerate the exploration and development of the Philippines’ indigenous energy resources.

The company, formerly a subsidiary of Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), has become fully private in 2007 and is now majority-owned by First Gen Corp., through Red Vulcan Holdings.

EDC has major projects located on the islands of Luzon, Leyte, Mindanao and Negros.

It is the largest company currently exploiting geothermal sources of energy in the Philippines .

Aside from Mindanao geothermal, EDC has other existing geothermal production fields: Bacon-Manito Geothermal Production Field (150 MW), Leyte Geothermal Production Field (701 MW), Southern Negros Geothermal Production Field (192.5 MW) and Northern Negros Geothermal Production Field (49.4 MW).

With a total capacity of about 1,199 MW, this represents over 60 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity of 1,905 MW.