Geothermal power leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) on Monday vowed to provide more years of clean and renewable energy as it marked four decades of operations of the Palinpinon 1 (PAL 1) power plant in Valencia, Negros Oriental.

Noel Tan, EDC’s Negros geothermal facility head, said in an interview that with proper management of infrastructure and steam field resource, the PAL 1 has exceeded its average life span of 25 years.

“So in order to reach another milestone, it’s just a matter of utilizing the maximum potential of our resources to balance extraction and re-injection,” Tan said, referring to the steam field, the fluid collection and recycling system and the power plant.

The Palinpinon 1 geothermal power plant, comprising three units, was commissioned in 1983 when it was still a government-owned and controlled corporation, known as the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC).

The plant operates sustainably with a total of 112.5 megawatts (MW) installed capacity.

It is part of the bigger geothermal complex in Valencia town with a current 222.5MW installed capacity that supplies power to the Luzon-Visayas grid. It services both distribution utilities and retail customers in these regions.

EDC marked four decades of PAL 1 by honoring its stakeholders, comprising partners for the environment, customers, host communities, employees, and other external partners.

In his welcome remarks during the program, Tan said they will “continue to forge collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future for EDC, for the municipality of Valencia, for the entire Negros Island, and for the rest of our country.”

Valencia Mayor Edgar Teves Jr. thanked EDC for all the projects and services it offered the town since its operation started.

He said his father, Edgar Sr., was town mayor when the partnership began between the Valencia local government and the PNOC-EDC and which EDC continued until today.

Jerome Cainglet, EDC president and chief operating officer, highlighted the need for continued collaboration with stakeholders to achieve its goal for regeneration.

“Let us continue to find ways to elevate our relationship to ensure that all our efforts will work toward regeneration — by creating exponential good for our communities, for our province, and for our planet,” Cainglet said.

EDC is First Gen Corporation’s 100 percent renewable energy arm and the country’s biggest geothermal power producer.

Its entire 222.5MW Negros geothermal facility (Palinpinon 1 and 2 and Nasulo) accounts for more than 11 percent of the Philippines’ installed geothermal capacity.

The company’s close to 1,200MW total geothermal capacity across the country is also responsible for putting the Philippines on the map as the world’s third largest geothermal producer. (PNA)