Energy Development Corporation (EDC) of First Gen Group took home two gold awards at the Inquirer ESG Edge Impact Awards 2026 on July 22, recognizing the company's work in expanding reliable renewable power and in reviving some of the Philippines' rarest native tree species.
Established in 1976, First Gen's EDC is the world's largest vertically integrated geothermal energy producer and the Philippines' largest all-renewable energy company. Its portfolio includes 1,302.78 MW of geothermal capacity across Luzon (Bicol), Visayas (Leyte and Negros Oriental), and Mindanao (Cotabato), alongside 150.0 MW of wind, 132.8 MW of hydro, and 11.99 MW of solar a combined 1,597.57 MW of clean energy capacity.
The two winning entries were "Road to 50: The Compounding Value of Geo 24/7," recognized in the Renewable Energy category, and "A Journey from Species Rediscovery to Extinction Rescue," honored under Sustainable Ecosystems and Biodiversity Conservation.
"Road to 50" framed the geothermal leader's approach around three commitments: supplying clean, reliable, 24/7 power to customers through the government's Green Energy Option Program, Retail Aggregation Program, and Retail Competition and Open Access mechanisms; managing its geothermal reservations through nature-based solutions; and fostering inclusive growth in host communities.
In 2025, First Gen's EDC supplied over 3.8 million MWh of renewable energy to retail and wholesale customers, displacing an estimated 4.9 million tCO2e of emissions that would otherwise have come from coal-fired generation. The company also expanded its portfolio by 81.8 MW through the new Tanawon geothermal power plant, the Palayan Binary facility in Bicol, and the Mahanagdong binary plant in Leyte, along with three Battery Energy Storage Systems totaling 40 MW.
The company reported a portfolio carbon intensity of 0.14 tCO2e/MWh five to six times lower than major Philippine grids and said it reinjects 100 percent of geothermal brine and condensate back into its reservoirs, protecting local rivers and streams while managing effluents under Department of Environment and Natural Resources-compliant systems.
The entry also cited the compounding social returns of the business: P75.5 million provided to host communities under the Department of Energy's ER 1-94 program, P44 million invested in education covering 129 college scholars, 46 scholars from indigenous communities, 308 tech-vocational beneficiaries, and more than 11,800 early learners. Ninety-five percent of the 201 graduates of its SIKAT education program are now employed, the company said, with several passing board examinations in engineering, psychometrics, and education. Altogether, First Gen's EDC estimates it distributed P40.7 billion in value to the local economy through operating costs, wages and benefits, capital payments, taxes, and community investments.
From rediscovery to rescue
The second gold-winning entry centered on BINHI, the 17-year-old greening legacy program of First Gen's EDC, and its work conserving the watersheds that sustain the company's geothermal reservoirs. It manages 127,608 hectares of forestland across its four geothermal sites in Bicol, Negros Oriental, Leyte, and Mt. Apo.
BINHI employs a three-step process for mainstreaming threatened Philippine native trees. First, search and rediscovery: using historical herbarium specimens, the IUCN Red List, and local knowledge to locate rare species through photographic documentation. Second, redocumentation and inventory, using the Global Tree Assessment tool to update conservation status in local and international databases. Finally, rescue and mainstreaming both in-situ, by protecting and enriching natural habitats, and ex-situ, by partnering with organizations to establish tree parks and arboreta where threatened trees can become "mother trees" capable of producing viable seeds over the long term.
The company identified 96 priority and threatened native tree species early in the program, later expanding the list to 145 with the addition of 49 critically endangered endemics. By 2025, the company had redocumented 135 of those 145 species of which 96 have been officially classified as "rescued," leaving 10 species, all endemic to Samar, still to be found.
The company positioned this work as bridging a gap in the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, which mandates protection but often lacks specific implementation guidance. Through a partnership with the DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau's Adopt-A-Wildlife Species program, all 96 priority species have been enrolled for targeted conservation.
Despite a budget of only P2.3 million in 2024 and P1.9 million in 2025 for the mainstreaming component, First Gen's EDC reported several notable outcomes. The population of Philippine teak (Tectona philippinensis) in Batangas grew from 485 in 2021 to more than 3,000 through in-situ conservation. In December 2025, 39 of the additional 49 target priority species were rediscovered in Ilocos Norte, Palawan, and Davao, with mother trees geotagged and taxonomically identified. A validation of 54 arboreta and tree parks found a 99 percent survival rate, with strong growth recorded among species including piling-liitan (Canarium luzonicum), manggis (Koompasia excelsa), lamio (Dracontamelon edule), and ipil (Intsia bijuga). The program's plant propagation efforts produced over 200,000 seedlings and established four new specialized propagation protocols.
The entry also highlighted long-running recoveries: the Calades narig (Vatica elliptica), unseen since 1938 and now a protected Heritage Tree, and the barakitid (Allophylus stenophyllus), rediscovered in 2022 after going undocumented since 1908. Since 2019, the BINHI team recognized as the Global Tree Assessment's Philippine assessor has completed IUCN Red List assessments for 1,665 tree species, of which 1,548 now carry updated conservation statuses on iucnredlist.org.
First Gen's EDC says the initiative supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on climate action (SDG 13), life on land (SDG 15), and partnerships (SDG 17), and that it aims to institutionalize native-tree conservation through municipal ordinances and programs such as the Ridge-to-Reef initiative creating what the company describes as a replicable model for ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation across the Philippines.
This article was originally published in INQUIRER.Net.
