DoE studying viable geothermal locations for offer to investors

Business World Online
Posted on July 29, 2015 07:56:00 PM
By Claire-Ann M. C. Feliciano, Senior Reporter

THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) is evaluating geothermal energy sites that can be offered to investors for development and utilization, an official told reporters in Pasig City yesterday.

Balut Island, a site with potentially exploitable geothermal resources. -- http://greedypeg.org

Mario C. Marasigan, director of the agency’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau, said the DoE is looking at “low enthalphy” and conventional resources that can produce geothermal energy on a commercial basis.

Low enthalpy resource areas, unlike conventional geothermal sites, have temperatures lower than 250 degrees celsius.

“There are a lot of low enthalpy areas but we have to identify which ones are viable for development,” Mr. Marasigan said on the sidelines of a conference organized by the National Geothermal Association of the Philippines.

“We are conducting resource assessments so that we will have something to offer to the private sector,” Mr. Marasigan added, noting viable areas will be offered via an open competitive and selection process (OCSP).

The official said the DoE, so far, has identified two areas -- one in Balut Island in Mindanao and Tingloy in Batangas.

While he acknowledged that there have been certain attempts in the past to offer Balut Island, Mr. Marasigan said further studies have to be conducted to prove the prospect area’s feasibility.

“There’s no market in the area because the customers don’t consume so much electricity,” he said.

“But it’s still being considered for further exploration because there could be significant resource and costs may be justified,” Mr. Marasigan said, noting costly transmission facilities may be built to dispatch power from the island to the off-taker.

These two areas, together with conventional resource prospects and cancelled service contracts, will be offered under the next round of OCSP

“The next round will include geothermal contracts that can be cancelled. We are continuously assessing the progress of the contracts,” Mr. Marasigan said.

The same official said that the next OCSP will not take place this year.

“We still have to package the areas for offer. Similar to the current OCSP, there will be a series of activities and regional consultations to discuss possible issues,” he added.

The DoE has yet to wrap up the second OCSP, which was launched earlier this year.

Last May, the DoE received eight offers for two geothermal concession areas that were auctioned off. It also obtained 31 offers for 14 hydropower prospects.

New contracts are scheduled to be awarded to the winning bidders on Sept. 4.

The first round of OCSP was conducted by the Energy department in 2009, during which it awarded eight geothermal service contracts.

During yesterday’s conference, DoE Officer-in-Charge for the Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada noted that the Philippines remains the second largest geothermal energy producer in the world, next to the United States.

Geothermal energy accounts for about 14% of the Philippine power generation mix.

“The challenge is to maintain this share with the increasing power demand,” Ms. Monsada said in her speech.

She noted that among the efforts being done by the DoE is the preparation for the next OCSP.

“We are preparing for the next OCSP but we’re also encouraging developers to come to us for the granting if new geothermal service contracts,” said Ms. Monsada.

She also urged developers to continuously look for practical solutions and innovations to support the geothermal sector. source