Village Montessori School and

Colleges
Phase D, Blk. 1, Lot 1, Francisco Homes, CSJDM, Bulacan

A STUDY ON THE RELIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF GEOTHERMAL

POWER PLANT AS A RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY IN THE
PHILIPPINES

A Research Paper Presented to

THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Submitted to
KIM RUSSELLE BAÑEZ

by:
Roscom, Andrei Ivan
Suello, Nathaniel Arnold
Apostol, Eliezer
Cortes, Edilbert

CHAPTER 2
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents the relevant literature and studies we would like to see the history

and the concerning affects and to find an alternative way to strengthening the importance of the

present study.

History of Geothermal in the Philippines

Exploration of geothermal energy in the country started somewhere in the 1950s

under the helm of Professor Arturo Alcaraz, who headed the Commission of Volcanology.

The Commission studied and made an inventory through geological mapping and surveys,

and test drilling for the possible sources of geothermal energy. (Delgado, 2015).

The Philippines is the third largest producer of geothermal electricity after the United

States of America and Mexico. Geothermal exploration was started in 1962, and the first large

commercial power plants came on-line in 1979 in two fields. By 1984, four geothermal fields

had a combined installed capacity of 890 MWe and in these plants supplied about 20% of the

country's electric needs. (Sussman, Javellana, Benavidez, 2003).

In the seventies, there is no single event of international importance which could perhaps

compare with the oil crisis of 1973. Its effects were dramatic both, for developed and developing

countries, but especially for those of the latter which got themselves trapped in an oil economy.

The crisis exposed the risks of overdependence on oil for energy. For the Philippines, it provided

one of the more severe tests in recent times of the nation's economic and political resiliency

(Velasco, I981).
 The aspiration to become self-reliant in energy emerged from the Philippine experience

with the oil crises of the 1970s. Skyrocketing oil prices and supply instabilities forced the

government to seek long-term solutions than just establishing government to government supply

agreements and taking the helm of the oil industry, A new decisive move was the government's

firm resolve to develop indigenous sources of energy, foremost of which is geothermal energy

(Refuerzo, 1996).

With the help of the New Zealand government, the First semi-commercial geothermal

power plant was put in operation on July 3, 1977 in Tongonan, Leyte. The field development

was done by PNOC-Energy Development Corporation (EDC) while the pilot plant was put up by

the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR). The 3MW pilot power plant supplied power to

the city of Ormoc. Meanwhile, the commercialization of geothermal power generation in the

Philippines was made possible with the entry in 1971 of the Philippine Geothermal Incorporated

(PGI), a subsidiary of Union Oil of California, developer of the Geysers geothermal field in the

United States. PGI developed the Tiwi field in Albay for the steam requirements of power plants

built by NAPOCOR. Later, the Makiling-Banahaw geothermal field south of Manila was added

to the area of interest serviced by PGI. Commercial geothermal power plants then came into

stream one after another. The three Tiwi power plants with a combined 330 MWe installed

capacity, complimented with a like 330 MWe capacity from the Makiling-Banahaw geothermal

field, supplied much needed additional power to the Luzon electrical grid by 1984. Not to be

outdone, PNOC-EDC developed the steam field with a power plant installed capacity of 112.5

MWe in Leyte and another 112.5 MWe in Southern Negros came into line in 1983 (Fig. 5). so by

1984, the Philippines with a total of 894 MWe (including 9 MWe of pilot plants) of installed
capacity became well ensconced as the second largest user of geothermal energy for power

generation in the world, next only to the United States (Javellana, 1991).

The Existing geothermal power plant in the Philippines

Luzon

Bac-Man Geothermal Inc (BGI) owns and operates the 150-MW Bac-Man Geothermal

Power Plant, a facility nestled on a 25,000 hectare geothermal reservation that straddles between

Bacon, Sorsogon City and Manito, Albay in the Bicol region.

The Bac-Man Geothermal Power Plant (BMGPP) facilities consist of two (2) steam

power generating plant complexes. The Bac-Man 1 facility originally included two (2) 55-MW

units (Bac-Man Units 1 and 2), which were both commissioned in 1993.

Bac-Man 2 facility, on the other hand, originally comprises two (2) 20-MW units namely:

Cawayan plant (Bac-Man Unit 3) located in Barangay Basud and Botong plant in Osiao,

Sorsogon City.

The Makban Geothermal Power Plant is located southeast of the capital city of

Manila and is owned and operated by AP Renewables Inc. (APRI), a prominent renewable

energy developer in the Philippines. Mitsubishi Power delivered the first geothermal power

generating unit in 1979 with nine other units progressively installed over the next two

decades until 1996.

 Commercial operation of the Tiwi geothermal power plant in the Philippines started

in May 1979, so now 40 years ago. The geothermal field of Tiwi is located at Mt. Malinao

in the Province of Albay in the Philippines, ca 350 km southeast of Manila. In 1982, Tiwi

became the world’s first water-dominated system to produce more than 160 MW. With the

start of production, reservoir pressure declined and many production wells cooled. Brine

production was increased and generation decreased from ca 280 MNWe in 1983 to 190 MW

in 1986.

The Maibarara Geothermal Power Project (MGPP) is an integrated 32 MW

geothermal steamfield, power plant, and transmission facility in Luzon Island, Philippines. It

consists of 1 x 20 MW Fuji condensing turbine and 1 x 12 MW Fuji condensing turbine.

Maibarara 2 is the fourth power-generating plant we completed and put online  in

four years. It marks the second wave of our judicious investment and operation in the

renewable-energy sector following the first wave with the 20-MW Maibarara 1 unit in

February 2014, the 36-MW Nabas 1 wind farm in June 2015, and the 50-MW Tarlac 1 solar

facility in February 2016.

Visayas

The Tongonan Geothermal Project (TGP) is the largest wet steam field in the

Philippines under the management of EDC with a total plant capacity of more than 700

megawatts. It is located in Ormoc City and the Municipality of Kananga, Leyte province.
 The latest addition of EDC to the Southern Negros Geothermal Production Field,

which operates the 192.5 MW Palipinon I and II geothermal power plants is expected to

boost the demand for power supply in the Visayas region, Dwight Maxino, SNGP head and

EDC vice president for Negros.

The Palinpinon geothermal production field lies on the northern flanks of inactive

Cuernos de Negros volcano (1,837 m ASL). This volcanic complex is part of the Negros Arc

which is a north-south trending chain of Quaternary volcanoes formed as a result of the eastward

subduction of the Sulu Sea oceanic crust along the Negros Trench.

Mindanao

First Gen-led renewable energy leader Energy Development Corporation

(EDC) inaugurated its 3.6 MW Mindanao 3 (M3) binary geothermal power plant, expanding

its existing Mount Apo geothermal facility with an additional supply of clean, reliable, stable

power in Mindanao.

The issues and concerns about Geothermal power plant

while Geothermal power plant has the potential to provide a reliable and sustainable

source of energy in the Philippines, it is important to address the issues and concerns in order to

ensure that the benefits of Geothermal plant are balanced against its potential negative impacts.

The issues and concerns about Geothermal power plant

while Geothermal power plant has the potential to provide a reliable and sustainable

source of energy in the Philippines, it is important to address the issues and concerns in order to

ensure that the benefits of Geothermal plant are balanced against its potential negative impacts.
1. Environmental Concerns about Greenhouse Emissions Unfortunately, no matter its

reputation of being an environmentally friendly alternative energy source, geothermal

energy also causes some minor concerns in regards to the environment. The extraction of

geothermal energy from the grounds leads to a release of greenhouse gases like hydrogen

sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia. However, the amount of gas released is

significantly lower than in the case of fossil fuels.

2. Possibility of Depletion of Geothermal Sources Furthermore, despite being considered a

sustainable and renewable energy, the chances are that specific locations might cool down

after time, making it impossible to harvest more geothermal energy in future. The only

non-depletable option is sourcing geothermal energy right from magma but the technology

for doing so is still in the process of development. This option is worth the investment

mainly thanks to the fact that magma will be around for billions of years.

3. High Investment Costs for Geothermal System Another disadvantage is the high initial

cost for individual households. The need for drilling and installing quite a complex system

into one’s home makes the price climb quite high. Nevertheless, the return on such

investment is very promising, being able to earn the investment back within 2 to 10 years.

4. Land Requirements for Geothermal System to Be Installed In case of geothermal

systems, having a piece of land next to the house is required in order to be able to install

one. That makes geothermal systems hard to be implemented for homeowners in big cities,

unless a vertical ground source heat pump is used.

Scientific studies related and/or related research about the topic

Geothermal energy is a promising renewable energy source that is becoming increasingly

important in the effort to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.

Mount Pinatubo lies along the Luzon arc, a north-south-trending belt of late Tertiary to

Quaternary volcanoes that extends northward from southern Luzon to Taiwan (Defant and

others, 1989). The Luzon arc is associated with eastward subduction of the South China Sea

oceanic crust along the Manila trench. In the Mount Pinatubo to Mount Mariveles segment of the

arc, the volcanoes overlie the contact of the Zambales Ophiolite Complex (ZOC) and Tertiary

sediments of the central Luzon basin.

The ZOC in the prospect area comprises variably serpentinized peridotites and

pyroxenites, gabbros and related felsic intrusives, diabase dikes, and basaltic lavas. These rocks

are exposed north, west, and southwest of Mount Pinatubo. North of the volcano, the ZOC

unconformably underlies upper Miocene to lower Pliocene sandstones, siltstones, and

conglomerate lenses (Delfin, 1984) and is intruded by a large body of Neogene diorite and quartz

diorite (Philippine Bureau of Mines, 1963).