Razon power firm secures 20-MW RE supply from EDC

MANILA, Philippines — Razon-led MORE Electricity and Power Corp. (MORE Power) has secured 20 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy supply from Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC), a unit of First Gen Corp.

The five-year supply will cover MORE Power’s mid-merit requirements starting July 25.

MORE Power said the move to get power from EDC is a part of the distribution utility’s customer welfare-driven initiatives that aim to provide stability and reliability in terms of supply and fixed power rates to its power consumers.

This is also a result of the competitive selection process (CSP) conducted by MORE Power wherein EDC submitted the lowest bid among the three participating generators.

“Green power is not only reliable but also affordable. MORE Power gives priority to affordability of electricity, then having renewable energy in our portfolio,” MORE Power president and CEO Roel Castro said.

“We are confident that this partnership with First Gen and EDC will give us both our priorities that will benefit our consumers in the long term. Especially now that global fuel prices are, and will continue to be volatile, having renewable energy in our portfolio will save our consumers from high electricity costs,” he said.

The five-year power supply to MORE Power will come from EDC’s Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, one of the company’s largest geothermal facilities.

EDC said geothermal energy is considered the Holy Grail of RE technologies because, unlike other RE sources, it can provide uninterrupted, year-round baseload power, rain or shine.

As geothermal energy hardly emits carbon dioxide, being powered by Geo 24/7 will also enable MORE Power to avoid releasing to the atmosphere a minimum of 124,942 tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide that otherwise would be emitted annually if the electricity would come from a coal-fired power plant.

“We thank MORE Power for this new partnership that will not only benefit both parties but will also help our country decarbonize and meet its target to reduce its carbon emissions,” EDC vice president and business development head Marvin Bailon said.

He was referring to the government’s commitment under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent by 2030.

Apart from reducing its carbon footprint, MORE Power will also enjoy more affordable electricity rates because of the value-added tax zero rating on geothermal power generation and because geothermal fixed rates that are not indexed to any fuel commodities and foreign exchange.

MORE Power, a subsidiary of Prime Strategic Holdings Inc., holds a 25-year franchise to energize Iloilo City, which has around 87,000 consumers.

EDC has over 1,480 MW total installed capacity that accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total installed RE capacity.

Its 1,185.40-MW geothermal portfolio accounts for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity, making the Philippines the third largest geothermal producer in the world.