Challenge

In 1973, imported oil supplied 95 per cent of the Philippines’ energy needs. When the global oil crisis sent prices soaring, that dependence became an economic vulnerability the country could no longer ignore.

The Philippines needed a source of power that was both local and reliable. Geothermal energy offered an answer beneath its own soil, but harnessing it responsibly required more than drilling wells. The underground reservoirs depend on rainwater, forests and healthy watersheds. Communities, meanwhile, live alongside the steam fields and power plants. Developing geothermal energy for decades of use would mean caring for the entire system that sustains it.

Solution

Energy Development Corporation was established in 1976 to turn the country’s underground heat into homegrown power. Fifty years later, it operates 1,302.78MW of geothermal capacity across Bicol, Leyte, Negros Oriental, and Mindanao.

Unlike solar and wind power, geothermal plants can generate electricity day and night. That steady supply helps meet demand when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, giving customers a path away from fossil fuels without sacrificing reliability.

Keeping that power flowing requires a long view. EDC has created a “Nature-to-Grid” loop that treats ecosystems as critical infrastructure, ensuring that no organic material goes to waste. Their Fluid and Collection Recycling System (FCRS) reinjects 100 per cent of the brine and condensed steam from its operations into geothermal reservoirs, and their Silica Inhibition System prevents mineral scaling. In simple terms, what comes out of the earth is returned, helping preserve underground pressure while preventing the used fluids from contaminating the surface.

At its Palayan Geothermal Binary Plant in Bicol, EDC also modifies the acidity of geothermal fluid to prevent silica deposits from clogging equipment. This allows the plant to draw additional energy from brine produced by an existing steam field.

Above ground, forests form another part of the energy system. Through its BINHI (seedling) programme, EDC restores native trees and protects watersheds that help rainwater return to the underground reservoirs.