Dutch company IF Technology in partnership with Constellation Energy
Corp. (CEC) and Emerging Power Resource Holdings Inc. (EPRHI) will build
a 70 megawatt geothermal plant and a spa and wellness center along
Naujan Lake in Barangay Montelago, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
“Aside from providing electricity, we will give rise to a world-class
attraction in Mindoro. Green power and green tourism will boost the
province’s tourism and economy,” Dr. Antonie de Wilde, EPRHI Project CEO
said.
De Wilde said the the hot spring and wellness center will be
patterned after the world-renowned Blue Lagoon Spa in Reykjavik, Iceland
where geothermal seawater—with its minerals, silica and algae – is
tapped to provide a rejuvenating spa.
The Blue Lagoon, which was rated as one of the top 10 wellness
retreats from around the world in 2011, was created as an over-spill
pool for the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power station.
Much like the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, the hot spring in Barangay
Montelago, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro will also pump out excess
mineral-rich water after producing electricity.
The director of the DOE’s renewable-energy management bureau, Mario
Marasigan, said the Philippines currently uses between 38 to 39 percent
renewable energy in its primary energy mix.
DOE figures on gross power generation in the Philippines show that geothermal plants account for 14 percent of renewable power.
Tapping geothermal power in the country dates back to 1977, when the
first geothermal plant, small scale at about 3MW, was inaugurated in
Leyte. Since then, the Philippines has become the second-highest
producer of geothermal power, next only to the United States.
“We will bring life back to Montelago. We are also bound to add
medical tourism to the many attractions of Oriental Mindoro,” CEC
Chairman Jose P. Leviste, Jr. said.
The geothermal water’s silica, dubbed as a “beauty mineral” is used
in health and beauty products like mud packs and silica facial scrubs.
The project will also lower power cost in the island grid.
Until the introduction of renewable energy sources that include wind,
solar, bio-mass and geothermal power, isolated grids like Oriental
Mindoro have to rely on expensive gas-powered turbines.
The 20MW geothermal plant will provide base load capacity with as
much as 90% availability. Once the Montelago plant is operational, it
will be a big factor in providing a reliable and secure source of power
and in stabilizing retail electricity rates.
In Mindoro, electricity is distributed by the Oriental Mindoro
Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ORMECO) which resulted from the merger of
two electric coops that used to serve the province’s two congressional
districts, separately. ORMECO now covers all the 14 municipalities and
the capital city of Calapan and sources its power from National Power
Corp., Global Business Power and the Dulangan Mini-Hydro Plant which
supplies about 1.2 MW of ORMECO’s requirements.
Geothermal power is expected to balance out ORMECO’s generation mix.
CEC-EPRHI-IF Technology consortium is developing the Montelago
project under a Geothermal Renewable Energy Service Contract granted by
the Department of Energy (DOE).
CEC, together with its technical and financial partners, is one of
the many companies and groups identifying and developing geothermal
steam fields. Other than the Montelago project, CEC is also developing
renewable energy projects in Biliran province and Negros Island.
“We are confident,” de Wilde said, “that the addition of geothermal
power into the province’s present mix of electricity sources will have a
stabilizing effect on the grid.
The geothermal base load is best suited for an island grid’s shift
from bunker fuel to renewables, because it is not seasonal and has
higher availability. The stability or reliability investors will seek
can be provided by geothermal power,” he added.
Today, the Tiwi-Makban fields in Luzon and Tongonan steam fields in
Leyte are among the country’s highest producers of geothermal
electricity.
source: Malaya
No comments:
Post a Comment