THE Department of Energy is looking to award service contracts to three private groups for the exploration and development of eight prospective ?frontier? geothermal areas.

Documents from the DOE showed that Energy Development Corp., PNOC-Renewables Corp. and Primary Energy Corp. have submitted unsolicited proposals for the so-called frontier areas, which refer to those that have not been explored or for which the government has no resource data.

Seven of the eight contracts are expected to generate a combined 251 megawatts of geothermal energy. Investments in these projects are expected to reach as much as $627.5 million.

In particular, the DOE is evaluating EDC?s applications for five service contracts over prospects located in Mandalagan-Silay, Negros Occidental, which is expected to have a resource potential of about 20 MW; Balingasag, with 20 MW, and Mt. Ampiro, with a 30-MW capacity, both in Misamis Occidental; Lakewood in Zamboanga del Sur, 40 MW; and Mt. Zion in North Cotabato.

PNOC-RC has two applications for an 80-MW project in Mainit-Sadanga in the Mt. Province and another 60-MW geothermal power project in Buguias-Tinoc in Benguet, Ifugao.

Meanwhile, Primary Energy lodged one application for a 1-MW power project in Sta. Lucia-Iwahig in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Should the companies? proposals pass government evaluations, the contracts to be awarded will be on top of the geothermal service contracts that may be granted to 10 companies under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round for geothermal 2009.

Documents from the DOE also showed that Biliran Geothermal Inc. is seeking the conversion of its current contract into a geothermal renewable energy service contract to enable the company to avail itself of tax incentives.

Biliran Geothermal has a 20-MW power project in Biliran.

The Philippines, with a capacity of 1,987 MW, is the world?s second-biggest producer of geothermal energy after the United States. The country?s geothermal capacity accounts for about 17 percent of the generation mix, which means that one in every six light bulbs is powered by geothermal energy.

In terms of geothermal reserves, the Philippines has been reported to have sufficient resources to produce more than 1,000 MW of additional electricity from geothermal.