Emerging Power eyes Mindoro market

MANILA, Philippines - Local firm Emerging Power Inc. (EPI) is aiming to become the sole supplier of geothermal energy in Mindoro as it inked another power supply agreement (PSA) with Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Omeco).

Prior to this, EPI has signed an agreement with Oriental Mindoro Electric Co. (Ormeco).

Omeco representative Josephine Ramirez-Sato said with the agreement, the plant would greatly impact on the economy of Mindoro.

“I am confident that with the advent of sustained and stable power generated from a renewable energy source such as geothermal, Occidental Mindoro will finally be on its way to speedy progress,” she said.

The PSAs with Ormeco and Omeco revolve around the construction of EPI’s $180-million Montelago Geothermal Power Plant in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The project would provide 40 megawatts of power to the two cooperatives, with each to be supplied 20 MW of electricity.

Omeco, a cooperative formed in 1974, supplies electricity to nine municipalities of Occidental Mindoro: Mamburao, San Jose, Abra de Ilog, Calintaan, Magsaysay, Paluan, Rizal, Sablayan and Santa Cruz.

For his part, House energy committee chairman and Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali welcomed EPI’s investment in the province.

“EPI’s move to energize the entire island with geothermal energy will help to make Mindoro the green capital of the Philippines,” he said.

Umali said the project would bring down the cost of electricity in Mindoro by 40 percent to only P6.58 per kilowatt-hour from P11 per kwh.

“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 said.

Sato added that the 40 percent reduction would lead to P2.1 billion in electricity bill savings for the people of Mindoro in four years.

“If we keep investing in coal and oil, consumers will be paying P40 per kilowatt-hour by year 2030, based on estimates of the International Energy Agency and The Economist. In contrast, the Montelago Geothermal Power Plant will stabilize the price over the next 20 years and consumers will only pay a maximum of P7.50 by 2030,” she said.

The Department of Energy earlier granted a geothermal renewable energy service contract to EPI, which expects to drill by the third quarter of this year and will start providing electricity by mid-2016.