First Gen confirms P30-B drilling plan for geothermal wells

First Gen [FGEN 18.20, down 2.4%] [link] confirmed a news report that its subsidiary, Energy Development Corp. (EDC), was planning to spend up to P30 billion to drill 40 new geothermal wells through 2026 for its power generation facilities. FGEN clarified that EDC already drilled 24 new wells last year as part of this initiative, and has six more wells planned for this year and five more planned for 2026. FGEN estimates that the wells will add up to 140MW of baseload generation capacity this year.

MB bottom-line: Compared to solar and wind, geothermal is a technically challenging (and therefore expensive) way to generate renewable electricity, but it is an extremely valuable fuel source. The sun goes down, and the winds can change, but geothermal plants convert the earth’s internal heat to electricity at all hours under any weather conditions. It’s like a coal power plant, except without all the pollution, shortened life spans and death. We are blessed with an abundance of potential geothermal power, and I hope we lean more heavily into this sector. I mean, we can (and probably should) explore nuclear power to the best of our ability, but not at the expense of pushing and innovating in the geothermal space.

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