The production of geothermal energy

In the Philippines geothermal energy already provides 27% of the country's total electricity production generated in power plants. Worldwide, the Philippines rank second to the United States in producing geothermic energy. Geothermal power plants are on the islands Luzon, Negros, Mindanao and Leyte.

Cheap energy

The production of the electricity by geothermal plants is cheaper than the electricity produced in plants by using natural gas and coal. It is even cheaper than electricity produced by hydro power stations.

Some of the geothermal fields in the Philippines are:

Bacman Geothermal Field in Sorsogon Dauin Geothermal in Dauin, Negros Oriental Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant MakBan Geothermal Power Plant Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Bago City, Negros Occidental Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte.

Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant

The Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant complex is located in Tiwi, Albay Province, Bicol Region, Philippines. It consists of three generating units, namely:  Plant A with two 60-MW units  Plant B with two 55-MW units  Plant C with two 57-MW units. Plant B's Unit 4 was retired or decommissioned in 2003. The complex was first commissioned in 1979.

These three plants harness geothermal energy in the area known as the Tiwi Geothermal Field. This is part of the 17,661-hectare geothermal area in Albay that was reserved by Pres. Marcos through Presidential Decree No. 739 in 1970 following the passage of Republic Act No. 5092 or the Geothermal Law in 1967. The harnessing of geothermal energy was quite timely since it helped saved the Philippines millions of dollars during the 1970s oil crisis.

Makban Geothermal Power Plant

The Makban Geothermal Power Plant complex is located in the towns of Bay and Calauan in Laguna and Sto. Tomas in Batangas. It consists of the following generating units:  Plants A and B with two 63-MW units  Plant C with two 55-MW units  Plants D and E with two 20-MW units  a binary plant with five 3-MW and one 0.73-MW units. The complex was first commissioned in 1979.

Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte

Leyte is one of the island in the Philippines where geothermic power plants were developed. The developments here started in 1977 by the company PNOC.

Photos of Some Geothermal Power Plant

Steam rising from the Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station in Iceland.

Geothermal Power Plant Attempt at Mt. Isarog

PNOC returns to GT business with Mt. Isarog project In the Philippines, the Department of Energy awarded a geothermal exploration contract to state-run Philippine National Oil Co., which will spend upwards of $60 million to put up a geothermal power plant on Mt. Isarog, Camarines Sur. PNOC says the project has a potential capacity of at least 20 MW and an 18 gWh of electricity per year. The plant will be connected to the Luzon grid and electricity will go to the local electric cooperatives and industries. Exploration is to begin in the third quarter of 2010. PNOC used to be the largest producer of geothermal power in the country, until it sold Energy Development Corp. in 2007. During the sale, PNOC president and CEO Antonio Cailao moved that the noncompete clause be stricken from the contract so that the government could still engage in geothermal exploration and the Mt. Isarog project marks the return of the government to the geothermal energy business.

According to PNOC . . .

The Mt. Isarog geothermal project has a potential capacity of at least 20 megawatts (MW) and is estimated to generate 18 gigawatthours (gWh) of electricity annually. The project will be connected to the Luzon grid and power generated will be sold to the local electric cooperatives and industries to benefit households and industrial consumers in the Camarines province and other areas in Luzon. The geothermal potential of Mount Isarog has been estimated to have the same potential as that of the Tiwi geothermal field as the volcanic chain ran the entire Bicol Peninsula, to Samar and Leyte up to Diwata Range in Mindanao.

The Mt. Isarog Project . . .

The Mt. Isarog project will be undertaken by the PNOCRenewables Corp., the government's renewable energy implementing arm and the subsidiary in charge of the project, headed by its new president Roger Buendia. This project marked the return of the government in the geothermal energy business following the divestment and privatization of Energy Development Corp., formerly a subsidiary of the state-run firm known as PNOC-EDC. PNOC used to be the largest producer of geothermal power in the country, until it sold EDC to a Lopez-led consortium in 2007. During the sale, PNOC president and CEO Antonio Cailao moved that the non-compete clause be stricken from the contract so that the government could still engage in geothermal exploration.

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