First Gen, Silliman University extend power supply contract

MANILA  -The Lopez family’s power firm First Gen Corp. has renewed its retail electricity supply agreement with Negros Oriental-based Silliman University to supply the latter with up to 2.5 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy in the next three years.

Under the agreement, First Gen will gradually increase its supply provision from 2.1 MW in the 2023 to 2024 period to 2.5 MW in the 2025 to 2026 period.

Supply will come from the geothermal power plants operated by Energy Development Corp. (EDC), the company’s renewable energy unit.

“One of the identified ways for the university to demonstrate its sustainable operations is through the use of renewable energy to reduce its carbon footprint,” said Betty Cernol McCann, Silliman University president.

The university began shifting to renewable energy in 2019 when it tapped EDC for geothermal power supply through the 40-MW Nasulo geothermal facility in Valencia.

Part of the Dumaguete university’s power supply also comes from its own solar panels.

The university said it was able to prevent an equivalent of 974.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from 2020 to 2021.

It had shifted to renewable energy under the Department of Energy’s Green Energy Option Program, which allows customers with an average monthly power consumption of 100 kilowatts to choose clean energy sources.

EDC currently has over 1,480 MW of installed capacity, 1,181 MW of which comes from its geothermal portfolio alone. This accounts for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity.

—Meg J. Adonis INQ