Page 27 - Respond 2020 Magazine

RESPOND

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION POWERED BY GEO 24/7
EDC is a world leader in geothermal
technology and the Philippines’ largest 100%
renewable energy (RE) company, operating
1,181 MW of geothermal, 150 MW of wind, HARNESSING EARTH’S HEAT
132 MW of hydroelectric power, and 12 MW of
solar totalling 1,475 MW, which accounts for
21% of the country’s total installed RE. TO CURB GLOBAL WARMING

The heat is on and we don’t like it.
Everyone and everything is threatened by this worsening
climate.
Scientists revealed that the world will just keep getting hotter,
increasing by 3C to 6C by 2050 if nothing is done to remove
greenhouse gases from the atmosphere now.
In the Philippines, which is one of the countries most
vulnerable to climate change, the company’s parent
conglomerate of First Philippine Holdings (FPH) made a brave
decision not to invest in coal after its biggest geothermal
facility was badly hit by super typhoon “Haiyan” in 2013.
“These are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary
change and everyone must shift to thinking about the
quickest route to a decarbonised economy,” said FPH
Chairman and CEO Federico R. Lopez.
Operating in a country that is still primarily powered by coal,
the commitment is an uphill battle for FPH but its renewable
energy arm, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), has
managed to be the Philippines’ beacon of hope for a low-
carbon economy by sustainably generating power from
geothermal for over 40 years.
Geothermal, which is energy generated from the Earth’s heat,
is considered the Holy Grail among RE sources, being the
only one that provides clean and reliable baseload power,
rain or shine, day or night, all year round. Hence, EDC refers
to it as “Geo 24/7.” Palinpinon Geothermal Power Plant - Philippines.

Greening legacy
What makes the Philippines’ water-based Geo 24/7 even
more advantageous to Mother Earth is its need for lush
forests to sustain the geothermal reservoir.
While the company’s social forestry program has been
providing incentives to farmers from its partner communities
who helped maintain its watersheds since the 1980s, EDC
took a big leap in managing its geothermal reservations in
2008 by applying a science-based approach to bridging
forest gaps through the BINHI program.
A Filipino term for germling, BINHI is the company’s forest
restoration program, which uses 96 threatened indigenous Geo 24/7 clearly shows harmony among people, energy, Fully charged with Geo 24/7 Though geothermal energy is still less known in the country,
tree species identified, collected, and propagated by EDC.
and environment, which EDC has been demonstrating since While its vision of having a country that is sustainably Chile’s commitment to go for more RE until 2050 could pave
it began operating in 1976 by pioneering best practices powered by RE has yet to be achieved, EDC has been making the way for more geothermal explorations through the expert
aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals headway in assuring energy security in major regions of the assistance of EDC, which is currently pursuing development
Climate action through carbon-negative operations
(SDGs). These include ensuring access to affordable, reliable, country, providing the needed regulating reserve capacity to activities in Mariposa, including the Environmental Impact
EDC’s BINHI-led forest protection and restoration initiatives
and sustainable energy (SDG 7), taking climate action (SDG the grid with the influx of intermittent capacity from other RE Assessment for the project and technical studies for
captures 3.96 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year,
13), preserving life on land (SDG 15), and fighting hunger and sources. the front-end engineering design (FEED) for the steam
on top of its avoided 7.8 million tons of CO2 as a result of
poverty (SDGs 1-2). field, power plant, and transmission line interconnection.
its power generation from 100% RE sources in 2018. This EDC’s experience attests to Geo 24/7’s capacity to provide
makes EDC carbon-negative with its carbon emissions clean reliable baseload power to the Philippines and in any Through its Mariposa Geothermal Project in Chile, EDC is
fully absorbed by nearby forests, leaving an excess storage committed to contributing to Chile’s development model for
country blessed with geothermal resources like Chile, Peru
capacity of 3 million tons of CO2. and Indonesia where it has concessions. a transformative path towards a sustainable world.
www.energy.com.ph
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