Emerging Power receives drilling permit for Mindoro project, Philippines
Oriental Mindoro, Philippines (source: flickr/ Welcome to my B&B, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
24 Eyl 2014
Emerging Power Inc. now has an environmental compliance certificate to proceed with drilling works on its $185-million Mindoro geothermal power project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
Local news inform that the Environment Department in the Philippines has granted Emerging Power Inc. an environmental compliance certificate to proceed with drilling works on its $185-million Mindoro geothermal power project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.
“The ECC signifies the government’s trust and confidence in the capability of EPI to start work on our renewable energy project without disturbing the environment or the community around it,” Martin Antonio Zamora, Emerging Power chairman, said in a statement.
Zamora, the son of Nickel Asia Corp. chairman Manuel Zamora, partly owns Emerging Power. The other owners are Alternative Power Resources Holdings Inc. and Manta Equities Inc.
The certificate allows Emerging Power to start drilling the first geothermal well to generate steam that is capablle of supplying 40 megawatts of power to the whole island of Mindoro by the third quarter of 2016.
“The geothermal project will not only stabilize power supply in the island-province but also bring down electricity costs and pave the way for downstream industries and livelihood that will improve socio-economic conditions in Mindoro,” Zamora said.
The geothermal project is expected to result in as much as P2.1 billion in savings for Mindoro electricity consumers in a four-year period. Geothermal power will reduce electricity billing by 40 percent to P6.58 per kilowatt-hour from the current P11 per kWh.
Local officials gave their support to the geothermal project, saying it will turn the island into the country’s “green energy hub.”
“We welcome the entry of new renewable energy player in Oriental Mindoro to help stabilize power in our progressive province. The project will help sustain the economic growth in the entire island-province,” said Oriental Mindoro Rep. Salvador Leachon.
“We see much hope in EPI’s renewable power not only to address Mindoro’s power crisis but to help the island keep its pristine natural beauty and ecology even as it attains economic progress. EPI’s geothermal power will help eliminate our over dependence on the use of costly and environmentally destructive fossil fuels,” Leachon said.
Source: Manila Standard Today
