Originally published on Businessmirror
QUICK READ: Energy Development Corporation is set to complete its P7-billion binary power plant in Albay in the third quarter of this year. The project will utilize waste heat from the existing 130-MW BacMan geothermal power plant to generate energy.
Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is set to complete its P7-billion binary power plant in Albay in the third quarter.
Its parent firm reported last week that the 28.9-megawatt (MW) Palayan binary project is targeted for commercial operations by September. The binary plant will produce energy from the waste heat of a unit of EDC's existing 130-MW Bacon-Manito (BacMan) geothermal power plant. The project is also expected to expand the existing BacMan plant.
The company earlier said the Palayan binary plant was expected to generate 600 jobs for the community. Also, the low carbon project will reduce 72,200 tons of carbon emissions every year.
EDC is also engaged in another binary project. The 3.6MW Mindanao 3 binary project was inaugurated last April 27, 2022.
The project will make use of existing brine from EDC's 103-MW Mindanao 1 & 2 geothermal power facilities to generate additional energy without the need for additional drilling.
The heat from the brine will be used to generate electricity for the new power plant before it is re-injected back to the reservoir. It was synchronized to the Mindanao Grid on March 12, 2022, and passed its grid compliance testing by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
The project will not only contribute reliable power to the Mindanao region but it will also avoid around 25,000 tons of equivalent carbon dioxide each year through the use of clean geothermal energy in lieu of coal, the company said.
EDC's over 1,480MW total installed capacity accounts for 20 percent of the country's total installed renewable energy capacity while its 1,181MW geothermal portfolio accounts for 62 percent of the country's total installed geothermal capacity. This has put the Philippines on the map as the third largest geothermal producer in the world.
