First Gen Corporation is ramping up investment in its geothermal portfolio, with major upgrades planned for its over 40-year-old power plants in Leyte and Negros, alongside new exploration in Mindanao.

“In geothermal, our plants have been in operation for the last 40 years. We’re in the process of upgrading some of the other facilities, and also putting in newer facilities, so that the whole concept of renewable energy is—we can prove that geothermal is an important renewable resource,” Mr. Francis Giles B. Puno, president and COO of First Gen Corporation, told reporters at the recent ceremony marking the First Philippine Industrial Park’s RAP turnover to First Gen.

^{In photo: Mr. Francis Giles B. Puno, president and COO of First Gen Corporation}

The company is reassessing its 700+ MW facility in Leyte, where steam characteristics have evolved. “If we came in there for the very first time, would I be building the same plants and the same locations with the same technology? And we came up with a different decision 40 years later.”

In Negros, First Gen is upgrading the Dumaguete plant using newer technology. “Forty years later, the steam resources still produce the same quality and pressure of the steam rose as if we were first extracting it 40 years ago. So that’s the nice thing about it.”

Geothermal operations in Mindanao are also advancing. “We’re also drilling in Mindanao, in Amacan. So that’s—we need to prove the sustainability of that resource.”

The company is pairing geothermal with energy storage systems to enhance reliability. “In Bac-Man, we have a 20MWh facility. In Negros, we have a 10MWh facility. And then in some other sites, we also have another 10MWh facility.

First Gen said it is now looking to integrate AI to maximize decades of operational data. “What we’re trying to do is figure out how to capture all of the data that we’ve accumulated over the last 50 years, put that into some AI system to be able to improve and improve the ability for us to extract all of this data to produce more 24/7.”

Proceeds from its pending asset sale to Prime Infra will support its renewable energy expansion. “What we’re doing is sort of re-channeling some of the proceeds from the gas into the RE space,” Puno said.

Puno emphasized the importance of policy support to sustain geothermal expansion. “We need to work with the government, both the ERC and the DOE to find a way to support more geothermal to come in. Because as you know, the challenge of geothermal is the exploration side of that,” he told reporters.

“We focus on the more challenging renewable energy, but the more reliable renewable energy. So our program, our recommendation to the government is to be able to find a way to support these technologies. Principally, geothermal and also hydro.”

What do you think of First Gen’s move to modernize geothermal? Should more incentives be provided for long-term baseload renewables? Join the discussion.

Follow Power Philippines on Facebook and LinkedIn or join our Viber community for more updates. 

Photo credit: First Gen