By Mary Lailani Pitao-Tupaz
NAVAL, Biliran (PIA) — No other than Eirikur Bragason, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Orka Energy, disclosed in a meeting with local media this morning at the Biliran Garden Resorts, Calumpang, Naval, Biliran, of the confirmed 10 megawatts electricity generated from the two wells tested out of the five wells dug.
An additional five or more megawatts is expected to be generated from the remaining three untested wells.
The Biliran geothermal project is expected to produce clean, green, and sustainable energy using advance, complicated, and competitive technology so as not to pollute and destroy the environment. Orka Energy, the project developer, is taking seriously its social and environmental responsibility, Bragason said.
Orka Energy aims at providing more reliable and stable energy, and cheaper electricity in Biliran by not spending anymore on the transmission costs being situated in the vicinity of the geothermal plant.
Civil works at the Biliran geothermal project had started in 2013 but recently slowed down in their civil works because they are evaluating the results of the wells tested.
Construction of the power plant will approximately start in July this year and commercial marketing will start in August or September 2016 with the certificate of commerciality issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) which gives them the authority to produce the energy they applied for commercial marketing, according to the chief executive.
Orka Energy estimated around 270MW electricity to be generated from the entire concession area in the Biliran geothermal project of 55,000 hectares and observed to have very high temperature.
Being into geothermal development projects in Europe and Asia, Orka Energy envisions of putting up 115 geothermal power plants in the Philippines like what they have in China. The Biliran geothermal project is their first geothermal development project in the Philippines, according to Bragason. (mlt)
