Leyte Optimization Power Plants Produce 50 MW Without Additional Resource Development

Abstract

By 1997, ORMAT, which had been active in the Philippines for over ten years with the support of the US Ex-Im Bank, had been successful in the development of 200 MW of geothermal power plants in the Philippines. This included the 15-MW MakBan plant and the 125-MW Upper Mahiao Geothermal Power Plant. After completing the Upper Mahiao Plant, ORMAT optimized the output of the other geothermal plants constructed on the Island of Leyte by the fast track development of a 50-MW BOT geothermal power plant complex in response to the Philippine National Oil Company Energy Development Corporation's (PNOC- EDC) competitive bidding process in mid-1995. The four power plant units which make up the Optimization Project are comprised of: (a) one topping unit at each of Tongonan, Mahanagdong A and B, and (b) one bottoming unit at Malitbog. These ORMAT optimization plants have increased the total output of the Leyte Geothermal Power Plants by 49.8 MW, or 13.5%, without the need for, or the expense of, any additional resource development. The geothermal power plants developed by ORMAT in the Philippines employ ORMATÆs innovative geothermal energy conversion technology which utilizes both geothermal steam and brine to maximize energy conversion efficiency, as well as air-cooled condensers to achieve 100% reinjection for reservoir management and resource sustainability.