| Abstract |
The Philippines’ effort to increase geothermal capacity in line with the government’s thrust of energy self-reliance and environmental preservation has been the aspiration to explore and develop the remaining untapped indigenous geothermal resources through utilization of undiscovered high temperature and low to medium temperature geothermal prospect areas. While there are many investment opportunities, the exploration and development of geothermal projects remained to be challenging. To minimize the risk in the geothermal development, the government took initiatives in conducting of comprehensive geoscientific studies through the implementation of several locally-funded projects to identify and assess the viability of developing the remaining untapped geothermal areas. The enactment of the Executive Order No. 30, creating the Energy Investment Coordinating Council in order to streamline the regulatory procedures affecting energy projects on 28 June 2017, paved the way to expedite the permitting process of all energy projects that promote energy security and resiliency. With the current development of geothermal worldwide, the Philippines now rank as the 3rd largest power producer of geothermal energy next to United States of America and Indonesia. In the last five (5) years, only the 12 MW Maibarara Unit 2 was commissioned in April 2018 and, as of end 2018, the total installed capacity from geothermal power plants was 1,918 MW. Nevertheless, the geothermal energy production continuously contributes 11% of the total electricity requirements in 2017. To meet the increasing demand, about 1,401 MW additional capacities are envisioned to be online by 2040. |