DUMAGUETE CITY – First Gen Corporation is undertaking a modernization project that will increase the installed capacity of its Palinpinon-1 geothermal power plant in Valencia, Negros Oriental, from 112.5 megawatts (MW) to 126 MW.
The project, being implemented by First Gen’s geothermal arm, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), involves replacing the plant’s three 37.5-MW turbine-generator units with three modern 42-MW units, EDC said in a statement Wednesday.
The upgrade is expected to add 13.5 MW to First Gen’s renewable energy portfolio while allowing the facility to generate more electricity using the same volume of geothermal steam, without additional steam extraction.
Noel Tan, head of the Southern Negros Geothermal Project (SNGP), said that the modernization demonstrates EDC’s efforts to improve resource efficiency while supporting the country’s transition to lower-carbon energy.
“By upgrading our existing infrastructure to generate more electricity without needing additional steam extraction, we are maximizing our natural resources while helping accelerate the Philippines’ transition toward a decarbonized energy future,” Tan added.
The project is also expected to extend the operating life of the plant, which has been supplying renewable power to the Visayas grid for more than four decades.
Earlier, First Gen and EDC officials said during a press conference at the Net Zero Carbon Alliance that the Palinpinon upgrade would start in the last quarter of this year.
First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno said the company is uprating existing Palinpinon facilities to add more than 10 MW of capacity while using the same quality of geothermal steam.
He said the company is also improving the efficiency of the power plants by adopting the latest turbine technology.
Jerome Cainglet, president and chief operating officer of EDC, said the upgrading will be implemented in phases, with completion targeted by the end of 2027.