New geothermal plant in Negros or EDC boosts Visayas power grid

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – The Energy Development Corporation inaugurated on Friday its 49.4-megawatt Nasulo geothermal power plant in Valencia town of Negros Oriental.

Nasulo is the latest commissioned power plant at the EDC's Southern Negros Geothermal Project in Valencia, host to the forerunners Palinpinon I and Palinpinon II geothermal plants.

This new plant was seen as a boost to the Visayas grid and a short-term response to the perceived power shortage next year. It was also expected to address the consumers' demand in the entire region as its excess power will be made available to other areas.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, EDC executives led by its chairman and chief executive officer Federico Lopez and local government officials attended the inauguration, blessing and ceremonial switch-on ceremony at the plant site in sitio Nasuhi of Barangay Puhagan in Valencia.

"The Nasulo geothermal plant will help address the tightening power supply-demand situation in the Visayas region. We are pleased that one of our greenfield projects is now ready to provide clean, reliable and competitively priced power to the province of Negros Oriental and to our valued customers in the Visayas grid," Lopez said.

Based on forecasts of the Department of Energy's power demand in the Visayas, the new plant will surpass the current capacity of 2,037 MW by 2015.

The Nasulo geothermal plant was constructed using equipment from EDC's geothermal power plant in Negros Occidental.  It will boost the portfolio of power assets of EDC and its subsidiaries in southern Negros, including the 112.5-MW Palinpinon I and the 80-MW Palinpinon II geothermal plants of Green Core Geothermal Incorporated.

EDC president and chief operating officer Richard Tantoco said: "The Nasulo geothermal power plant will help us fulfill the needs of our customers. They have asked EDC for competitively priced power that minimizes foreign exchange fluctuations and volatile fuel price movements, so that is exactly the solution we provided."

EDC and its subsidiaries remain the leading producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total geothermal capacity installed in the country.

Valencia Mayor Edgar Teves welcomed the latest power plant in Valencia, saying it will benefit the municipal government and provide additional benefits to his constituents, the town being the host to the geothermal power harnessed by EDC.

Teves said the Nasulo plant will bring in additional revenues for the local government of Valencia by way of real property taxes.