| Abstract |
Institutionalizing Resiliency Programs for Geothermal Operations in Disaster-Prone Areas: A Case Study of the Tiwi Geothermal Field by Edith Louise Batac, Jonathan Vizon, and Erwin Vargas Philippine Geothermal Production Company, Inc. Keywords for this abstracts: Tiwi, Resiliency, Risk Mitigation, Disaster-Preparedness The Philippines was listed third in the 2016 World Risk Index of countries most vulnerable to disasters as the archipelago experiences many forms of natural and human-induced calamities in the form of typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, and armed conflict, affecting millions of people and resulting to significant costs to the economy. The Index also reports that impacts of disasters are exacerbated when critical infrastructures, such as energy (electricity, gas, and oil), are severely damaged as failure or degradation of such leads to disruption in supply or services which can have dramatic consequences on the nation’s society (United Nations Populations Fund). Recognizing the country’s high level of exposure to risks, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) issued in 2018 a policy mandating all participants in the energy sector (generation, transmission, and distribution) to submit a Resiliency Compliance Plan to mainstream disaster risk reduction by employing measures to ensure infrastructure, systems, and human resource disaster preparedness. Philippine Geothermal Production Company, Inc. (PGPC) actively supported this policy by participating in public consultations and being one of the first companies to comply with the said requirement given its program readiness in terms of strengthening existing infrastructure facilities, response and recovery, as wells as ensuring continuous operations of its steam field facilities. In fact, many of the programs required by the DOE under the Resiliency Compliance Plan have been in place and integrated in PGPC’s policies, processes, and standards even before the issuance of the DOE regulation. These programs cover not only the steam field facilities and equally protect the host communities as well. PGPC’s Resiliency Compliance Plan was put to the test when the Tiwi Geothermal Facilities in the province of Albay was significantly impacted by floods and landslides as tropical depression Usman brought record rainfall in December 2018. Initial assessment shows that PGPC’s programs under the Resiliency Compliance Plan generally mitigated the destructive impact of the disaster and enabled the immediate resumption of operations of unaffected facilities. This paper provides a thorough discussion of PGPC’s Resiliency Compliance Plan, covering the process by which its components were consolidated by the respective subject matter experts and the consultation with the DOE. It also documents how the Plan was deployed during the onslaught of Usman and how it guided PGPC’s response and recovery efforts through its dedicated Asset Emergency Management Team. Furthermore, this paper offers an assessment of what can be improved in PGPC’s disaster preparedness and risk mitigation programs both in the operations level and in the host communities. |