The Tamesis
Philippines EDC geothermal power station.
Provided by EDC
Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the renewable energy arm of tycoon Federico Lopez and his family First Gen Corp., is deepening its investment in geothermal energy, planning to spend 25 billion pesos ($407 million) to upgrade one of its oldest power plants on Negros Island in the central Philippines.
First Gen said in a statement that the proposed investment will optimize EDC’s 43-year-old Southern Negros Geothermal Project (SNGP) while minimizing its environmental footprint. SNGP became operational in 1983 together with the Tongonan Geothermal Project, also located in Leyte, central Philippines.
The SNGP proposal is on top of a separate P100 billion project Announce In January, EDC upgraded and increased the capacity of the company’s largest facility, the Tongonan Geothermal Complex, from 637.2 MW to 967.2 MW. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is assessing the environmental impacts of both projects before receiving regulatory approval.
First Gen said that after more than four decades of sustainable operation, SNGP generates more than 222.5 megawatts of electricity annually, which has exceeded the average life of geothermal steam fields of 25 years.
First Gen said EDC plans to drill up to 43 recharge and replacement wells to ensure a stable supply of geothermal steam to Negros Island for decades to come. First Gen said if approved by the government, the project would reduce SNGP’s steam field area by 22 per cent to 4,028 hectares, minimizing land disturbance in the area.
The company operates 16 geothermal power plants across the Philippines with a total installed capacity of 1,302.78 MW. It was privatized by the government in the mid-2000s and the Lopez Group took full control in 2007.
Net worth is $285 million Forbes” estimate, lopez family Is one of the richest people in the Philippines. The family also owns stakes in parent company First Philippine Holdings, real estate developer Rockwell and former television giant ABS-CBN until 2020 when the Philippine Congress did not renew its franchise.
