Geothermal Development in the Philippines: the Country Update

Abstract

The passage of the Republic Act No. 9513, otherwise known as the Renewable Energy (RE) Act of 2008, made a substantial development in the geothermal industry of the Philippines. This law provides fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to further promote and accelerate the exploration, development and utilization of renewable energy resources which include geothermal energy. Remarkable evidence is the entrance of new players, thus a total of 43 Geothermal Service/Operating Contracts has been awarded since the effect of the RE Act in 2009. From these contracts, additional capacity of 20 MW Maibarara and 30 MW Nasulo projects are expected to be commissioned by 2014. Likewise, expansion and optimization projects are in the pipeline. With the current installed capacity of 1,847.69 MW, the Philippines remain the 2nd largest power producer of geothermal energy in the world and continuously contribute 14% of the total electricity requirements in 2012. To sustain the growing demand and to address the issues on energy security, 75% of the existing capacity or a total of 1,465 MW additional capacities is envisioned to be online by 2030 to provide continuous supply of cleaner energy. Furthermore, assessment on the utilization of low enthalpy geothermal resources is being undertaken to provide additional energy to the country.