AboitizPower breaks ground for Tiwi binary

MANILA, Philippines — Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) subsidiary AP Renewables Inc. (APRI) has started the construction of a 17-megawatt Tiwi binary geothermal power plant, with the project’s completion expected by December.

The power plant is located within the 1.5-hectare area where the Tiwi geothermal power plant, the first and oldest geothermal power plant in the country, is located.

The project will be built from the ground up with an entirely new binary plant system, pipes, and transmission line.

APRI president and COO Jeffrey Estrella said the project is eyed for completion by December this year.

“The Tiwi binary power plant is a facility designed to extract the recoverable heat from the geothermal brine that is processed in a closed-loop system where no harmful gas or liquid is being emitted nor any waste products are discharged to the atmosphere,” Estrella said.

“The design will produce an additional 17-MW gross generated electricity – an additional source of clean energy to the Luzon grid,” he said.

Geothermal energy, a form of renewable energy, comes from the earth’s heat and is produced by drilling production wells into the ground to tap high temperature fluids from geothermal reservoirs.

Residual heat from the hot brine side of the geothermal production process, otherwise unutilized before reinjecting back to the earth, is harvested to produce electricity through the binary geothermal power plant.

APRI said the concept of recovering heat from the geothermal brine and converting it into electricity is a novel solution that improves the plant’s overall thermal efficiency.

It said the binary plant has no emission to the environment as the binary fluid operates in a closed-loop system

APRI is also seeking the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission to develop and operate dedicated point-to-point transmission facilities worth P83.52 million to connect its geothermal binary power project to the Luzon grid.

The dedicated facility project will connect power plant to the Luzon grid via the 69-kilovolt (kV) Tiwi-C substation of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The dedicated point-to-point limited connection facility will be used solely by the Tiwi binary plant for its dispatch and connection to the 69-kV substation of NGCP, allowing movement of power from the power plant to the Luzon grid.

APRI in April last year signed an agreement with its steam provider to supply brine to fuel the binary plant.

The company has also awarded the project’s engineering, procurement, and construction contracts to Ormat Technologies Inc. and Desco Inc., two companies known for their engineering services, power plant system designs, and technical expertise in the geothermal energy industry.

“As our country embarks on an energy transition, we recognize we must work with others both within and outside our industry to contribute to the nation’s energy goals. The scale of the transformation of the country’s energy system requires collaboration and innovation. This project is a testament to that,” AboitizPower chief renewables officer Jimmy Villamoran said.

The Tiwi binary project is part of AboitizPower’s efforts to grow its Cleanergy attributable capacity by the end of the decade.

Through Cleanergy facilities across the country, power derived from run-of-river, large hydro, solar, geothermal, and soon, wind, are harnessed to provide clean, zero-emissions energy to business and communities.

Cleanergy is AboitizPower’s renewable energy solutions brand.

AboitizPower targets to spend around P190 billion over the next decade for an additional 3,700 MW of renewable energy.

By the end of 2030, AboitizPower will significantly expand its Cleanergy portfolio to 4,600 MW or three times the company’s current renewables portfolio.

The company has around 1,000 MW of disclosed renewable energy projects and is on its way toward achieving its targets.