PLDT Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. have contracted First Gen Corp. to supply its units across the Visayas with 3.7 megawatts of geothermal power.
Under the contract, First Gen will supply renewable energy to seven PLDT and Smart facilities in Cebu, Samar, Capiz and Iloilo.
First Gen is a holding company whose power generation facilities run completely on renewable energy.
“This geothermal switch will allow us to save around P27 million in electricity costs on an annual basis for our seven facilities in the Visayas. This will also support our broader decarbonization roadmap and will enable us to reduce our emissions by about 16 thousand tons this year, which amounts to 26 percent of our total target emissions reduction for 2023.”, said Melissa Vergel de Dios, PLDT and Smart chief sustainability officer, first vice president and head of investor relations.
First Gen said the companies are considering to further expand the use of geothermal energy for more of their sites across the Philippines, including data centers.
Last year, PLDT and Smart launched a decarbonization roadmap targeting to reduce so-called scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 to cover the transition to renewable energy and green technology solutions to power up their network facilities, data centers and operational sites across the country.
First Gen as a group generates combined capacity of 3,492 MW with a portfolio that includes natural gas, geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar power.
