BIZ BUZZ: EDC eyes Iceland, NZ geothermal energy
Many people go to Iceland to chase the breathtaking but elusive Aurora Borealis.
Or they go to New Zealand for the stunning landscapes, maybe visit Hobbiton, the famous movie set of “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.”
Not the technical people from Energy Development Corp., whose parent firm First Gen Corp. is awash with P50 billion in cash from the sale of its gas business to tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.
If they are traveling to Iceland, New Zealand or even the United States, they are on the prowl for opportunities in geothermal energy.
EDC recently firmed up its debut in Indonesia. But the Lopez group’s investment horizon goes far beyond Southeast Asia.
“Aside from Indonesia, there are very, very early stages of research. I don’t call it exploration. It’s research [first]—technical, commercial, legal, in the US, Iceland, New Zealand,” Allan Barcena, EDC assistant vice president and head of corporate support group, told Biz Buzz on the sidelines of an energy forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.
These countries have vast geothermal areas harnessed for energy production, not just to showcase geysers and hot springs.
At the very least, EDC would like to bring home new technologies.
“It’s not only the resource itself but sometimes the technology,” Barcena said.
“Also, we’ll go to other countries to explore carbon storage technologies. Even if we are very low in emission in geothermal (operations), we’d like to really bring it down by capturing our CO2 (carbon) emissions in our power plants.”
EDC is exploring these technologies because they are not yet available in the Philippines, he added.
“The technology is still new but we’d like to pilot these in EDC.”
