Combined power plant operations continue to boost financial performance of geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) as it posted a 113.7 percent increase in its income for the first six months of the year. The company earned PhP5.74 billion for the first half of 2010, more than double the PhP2.69 billion registered for the same period in 2009.
Of its different subsidiaries, First Gen Hydro, operator of the 122.5-MW Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric plants contributed PhP 1.06 billion to the total net income for the first half. Income from the 106-MW Mindanao geothermal plants improved to PhP436.4 million from PhP343.2 million with the elimination of BOT fees after the turnover to EDC in June last year. However, as a stand-alone entity, Green Core Geothermal, Inc. (GCGI) which operates the 305-MW Tongonan 1 and Palinpinon power plants reported a net loss of PhP0.26 billion.
“The successful acquisition of NPC owned geothermal power plants is an integral component of our forward integration growth strategy. Despite investor concerns on the immediate impact of loss steam revenues for the Bacman acquisition, EDC’s purchase of the power plant remains to be value-enhancing for the company,” EDC President and COO Richard Tantoco explained.
EDC submitted the highest complying bid for PSALM’s auction of the 150-MW Bacman plants last April. It has programmed the rehabilitation of the plants to bring them back to full capacity within 18 to 24 months.
“Complementary to this is our initiative to strengthen our balance sheet by redenominating our loans and smoothening out lumpy maturities. We are confident that we can sustain this momentum for the balance of the year with the continued seamless integration of the newly acquired plants with their fuel source – steamfields that we have been operating for the past three decades,” Tantoco said.
The company’s core net income also increased by 89.2 percent to PhP4.85 billion from PhP2.57 billion.
The Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is a pioneer in generating 100% clean, renewable, and reliable power as an electricity supplier in the Philippines for over 40 years. With power plants all over Visayas and Mindanao, the company is one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in Asia and is expanding its reach in the international market, allowing it to offer customers affordable energy rates. EDC also strives to provide the best customer service it can to all its clients by having helpful salespeople and easy to understand contracts. Because of all of this, it is poised to become the premier supplier of electricity for the Philippines’ Green Energy Option Program. EDC takes its mission as a renewable energy provider seriously and goes beyond sustainability by investing in programs that enhance the environment and empower its partner communities, thereby fostering regenerative development. The company has also been working toward being carbon-neutral by improving its energy efficiency, as well as implementing various greening projects to ensure that its mission to provide future generations with a better life remains intact.
