AP Renewables Inc. (APRI), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation, has tapped American firm Ormat Technologies Inc. as well as Filipino company Desco Inc. for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of its 17-megawatt binary project that is integrated into its Tiwi geothermal power plant in Albay.
The Aboitiz firm announced that the EPC contract was already signed and had been subsequently awarded to Ormat Technologies and Desco.
The groundbreaking for the geothermal project is targeted by first quarter of 2023; and completion is toward the yearend.
“The plant will utilize excess heat from spent brine at the Tiwi geothermal facility,” the Aboitiz firm said, specifying that in April this year, APRI already inked an agreement with its steam provider “to supply brine to fuel the binary plant.”
The Aboitiz firm further indicated that the binary facility “will be built from the ground up with an entirely new binary plant system, pipes, and transmission line.”
APRI qualified that the selection of the two companies had been anchored on their exceptional track record when it comes to the “engineering services, power plant system designs, and technical expertise in the geothermal energy industry.”
On the cemented EPC contract, APRI emphasized that Desco is already a long-time engineering partner that has been “providing control and instrumentation materials plus staffing services for 11 years.”
Ormat, on the other, is the company which “built and designed APRI's binary facilities for the MakBan (Makiling-Banahaw) geothermal power plant in Laguna.”
According to APRI President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeffrey Estrella, the binary power plant project “will reinforce our commitment to providing much-needed Cleanergy to the grid,” adding that “this development is considered a step forward as the company expands its Cleanergy portfolio.”
Cleanergy, which serves as the Aboitiz group’s brand in providing clean energy solutions to customers, has been drawing its power supply from the renewable energy portfolio of the conglomerate – including geothermal, run-of-river hydro, solar and large hydro.
The next target of the company is to eventually add wind capacity into its diversified RE business platform.
Aboitiz Power noted that its offer of RE-based solutions has been aimed at providing “reliable and reasonably-sourced energy to business and communities at a reasonably competitive price.”
As stated by Aboitiz Power President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio, “every step counts in our bid to grow our renewable energy portfolio," stressing that the company is “determined to reach targets, and this project proves that we are ready to pursue every reasonable opportunity."