Lopez-led Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has tapped two companies under the Mitsubishi Group to install equipment for the Bacon-Manito (BacMan) Geothermal Power Plant’s expansion.
In a statement, Mistubushi Heavy Industries said that Italy-based Turboden S.p.A and Japan-based Mitsubishi Power Ltd. have jointly received an order for 29-megawatt (MW) binary cycle power generation equipment, which would be installed in EDC’s geothermal facility in Manito, Albay.
Turboden will provide the complete power generation system, while Mitsubishi Power will provide support through its local resources.
“The order calls for project completion and operation startup by the end of 2022,” the statement read.
Turboden’s power generation system will add new binary cycle geothermal power equipment, whose key component is the company’s proprietary 29MW ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle), to the existing 120MW flash type geothermal power plant owned and operated by EDC subsidiary Bac-Man Geothermal Inc., an EDC subsidiary.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Power will dispatch personnel to the site to offer installation guidance and handle domestic transport, etc. through local subsidiary MHI Power (Philippines) Plant Services Corporation, which has a robust track record in constructions of geothermal and steam power plants as well as provision of power solutions.
The new system will generate power making effective use of brine, which until now has merely been returned to a reinjection well. By replacing power in the power grid now derived from fossil fuels, etc., the new installation will enable reduction of CO2 emissions derived from steam power.
“The new 29MW binary cycle power generation configuration is expected to trim CO2 emissions by approximately 72,200 tons per year (equivalent to some 20,000 hectares of forest),” Mitsubishi said.
“With the new binary cycle geothermal power generation to derive from the introduction of ORC technology under this project, additional excavation is unnecessary. As the brine from the existing geothermal power system can be used to generate power, introducing ORC technology into geothermal power plants, including the many facilities already developed in the Philippines, means that brine previously discharged can be used as an effective heat source, enabling its use as a readily available carbon neutral power source,” the statement further read.
The Philippines ranks fourth worldwide in volume of geothermal resources, after the United States, Indonesia and Japan. The country also ranks third, after the US and Indonesia, in geothermal power generation capacity.