SM Investments Corp. wholly-owned subsidiary Philippine Geothermal Production Co. Inc. (PGPC), is ramping up its investments in renewable energy.
PGPC targets to increase its steam production by another 300 megawatts (MW) through new exploration projects and double its overall geothermal capacity to 600 MW.
PGPC said the new projects are located in Kalinga, Daklan and Cagayan for Northern Luzon and in Mount Labo and Malinao in Southern Luzon, all forming part of annual investments totaling approximately P3 billion a year.
“SM is committed towards harnessing clean energy by increasing its capacity to provide steam. The Philippines’ location within the Ring of Fire provides a huge opportunity for a low-carbon source of power. This is proven by PGPC’s half a century of reliable and consistent production of steam converted into renewable baseload electricity for its communities,” said Frederic DyBuncio, SM Investments president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
PGPC operates steam fields in Mak-Ban and Tiwi in Albay and delivers steam to third party power plants generating electricity sent to power transmission lines for distribution.
As of March this year, PGPC said the Mak-Ban and Tiwi steam fields have reduced carbon dioxide emissions the equivalent of at least 57.5 billion kilos since the start of its commercial operation.
Those are environment-harming emissions captured instead by a 188,802-hectare forest.
