EDC, GNS extend partnership

Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC), one of the world’s largest geothermal companies, and New Zealand’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd. (GNS), a state-led consultancy firm, have extended their partnership on geothermal projects.

EDC executive vice president Ernesto B. Pantangco told reporters on the sidelines of a signing ceremony on Friday that the partnership had been extended for another year.

GNS will not only help determine the size of local geothermal energy resources, as the New Zealand firm has been doing, but will also assist with overseas prospects.

EDC is expanding its geothermal portfolio overseas, particularly in Latin America and Indonesia, as large-scale geothermal projects are becoming scarce in the Philippines.

The Philippines is Asia’s pioneer in geothermal energy and the second largest producer in the world, next to the United States.

Earlier, EDC said it had set a budget of $58 million to explore its geothermal asset in Chile from 2014 to 2016.

EDC president Richard B. Tantoco said the company was spending $12 million in capital expenditures this year for roads, drilling pads and the water supply system in the Mariposa geothermal project in Chile.

In 2015 and 2016, Tantoco said, EDC is set to spend another $46 million to drill three wells.

EDC will have a better idea of the size of the Mariposa project after drilling the three wells, according to Tantoco.

The Lopez-led firm remains the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, accounting for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity. It also produces 132 megawatts from hydroelectric plants.

As part of its aggressive growth program, it is expanding the 87-MW Burgos wind project with a 63-MW facility and building the 40-MW Nasulo geothermal project.