A total of 12 developers wanting to explore geothermal opportunities in the Philippines may receive financial support through the government’s $170-million derisking facility, an official said.
Speaking to reporters last week, Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said that about five more groups are waiting to see if they can be included in the list of initial parties.
She said that some of the companies have teamed up with foreign investors.
Guevara did not disclose the names of the applicants, but said the list was already provided to the Asian Development Bank, the Department of Finance and the Department of Economy, Planning and Development.
The Philippine geothermal resource derisking facility (PGRDF) seeks to address the challenge in shelling out massive investments to kick-start exploration activities by launching a cost-share exploration drilling scheme with qualified companies.
The exploration and drilling stage is considered the most risky part of the business, as players need to be ready and cough up about $10 million to $12 million per well, with no assurance of a commercial geothermal resource.
The Department of Energy and Land Bank of the Philippines signed in December an agreement for the rollout of the derisking facility.
‘Geothermal development requires significant investment long before a single kilowatt is delivered to consumers. Through the PGRDF, government is helping the exploration stage so that viable prospects can move faster from resource confirmation to project development,’ Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said in a previous statement.
Executing agency
Under the pact, the Department of Energy will act as the executing agency, tasked with policy direction and governance, as well as overall program oversight.
Landbank, meanwhile, is the facility administrator and manager, overseeing subloan applications.