First Gen gears up for $20-B expansion

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp.’s target to grow its power portfolio to 13,000 megawatts (MW) will need a war chest worth $20 billion, its top official said.

Achieving the goal in five years seems like a stretch. This, especially since it currently has only about 3,600 MW from geothermal power, wind, hydropower, solar and natural gas plants.

Francis Giles Puno, president and COO of First Gen, also admitted that hitting the target would be “challenging” given the time needed to deploy the facilities.

But Puno said the game plan would be to heavily focus on the expansion of First Gen’s geothermal operations, paired with the rollout of more solar and hydro projects.

The company president noted that the group would strongly bank on its geothermal energy business, as it provides a baseload capacity, here and abroad.

Baseload refers to the minimum amount of supply that is needed and, thus, the generators operate continuously.

In Indonesia alone, First Gen expects to gain 500 to 600 MW of new geothermal capacity.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Puno said they have “a lot of smaller but still important geothermal expansion.”

First Gen’s biggest project is in Davao de Oro, with drilling activities slated to begin within the year. For this, Puno said the firm sees “at least 70 to 100 MW” geothermal power opportunity.

Mindanao prospect

They are also exploring another geothermal power site in Mindanao, he said.

“So, that’s part of how we will achieve the 13 gigawatts,” Puno added.

Pushing for geothermal energy expansion is tied with hefty investments. Thus, Puno was hopeful that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) plan to shoulder a portion of the needed budget would materialize.

DOE officials earlier said the proposed geothermal resource derisking facility would come online by the second half of 2026. It will have an initial $250-million fund to jumpstart the program.

The exploration and drilling stage is considered the most risky part of the business. Players need to ready and cough up about $10 million to $12 million per well, with no assurance of commercial geothermal resources.

The Philippines is the third-largest geothermal producer in the world, with the United States and Indonesia securing the two top spots. —Lisbet K. Esmael