First Gen RES to supply Megaworld BGC buildings with geothermal power

AGT-Uptown

First Gen Corporation has been chosen by Megaworld Corporation to supply 6.17 megawatts (MW) of geothermal energy to its four buildings in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City.

Under the two-year deal, the Lopez-led firm, through retail electricity supplier (RES) subsidiary Green Core Geothermal, Inc., will be providing clean power to Uptown Place Towers 1, 2, 3, and the flagship Alliance Global Tower, which houses Megaworld’s parent firm Alliance Global, Inc. 

First Gen Vice President and Head of Power Marketing Carlos Lorenzo Vega said the power will be supplied by subsidiary Energy Development Corporation’s 123MW Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant in Kananga, Leyte. 

Meanwhile, First Gen Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Ramon “Ricky” Carandang said the partnership between two companies will help reduce the growth of using carbon-intensive fossil fuel.

“Like our parent firm First Philippine Holdings Corporation, we recognize the risks that we humans are all facing from climate change due to the continued buildup in the atmosphere of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, including those from power plants using carbon-intensive fossil fuel,” Carandang said in a statement.

“Collaborations even in small ways, like our partnership with Megaworld, can help reduce the buildup of toxic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, if we keep replicating these partnerships,” he added.

First Gen’s deal with Megaworld is in line with the government’s retail competition and open access (RCOA) policy, which intends to lower electricity prices by introducing competition among various players. Under RCOA, contestable customers can directly contract with a RES for the volume, rate, and package of services that it prefers.

Aside from First Gen, Megaworld also partnered with another RES — Mabuhay Energy Corporation — particularly for its Richmonde Hotel branches in Metro Manila.

 

Photo from Megaworld International website.