Turboden to install in Philippines

Turboden, a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), said it would supply a 50 MW (gross) geothermal Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plant in the Philippines.

In conjunction with the Spanish company TSK, Turboden has been awarded the turnkey construction of the power plant in Oriental Mindoro.

Four ORC turbogenerators will deliver electric energy to the local electric cooperatives ORMECO and OMECO. The plan provides for completion of the 50 MW capacity before the end of 2017 in multiple project phases.

Emerging Power Inc (EPi) is the first private investor in renewable energy in the Philippines, aiming at a total portfolio of 300 MW in the next three years, the company said. The listed miner Nickel Asia Corporation (NAC) is the major shareholder of EPi.

The turbogenerators will be installed at two different well pads where the geothermal source is separated into steam and brine before feeding the ORCs. Turboden said it optimized the machines according to the characteristics of the geothermal source, the ambient condition and the environment.

Turboden said the announcement follows successful operation of a 6 MW (gross) geothermal power plant in Japan. The plant, commissioned in June 2015, was the first Turboden plant in Japan, fed by a two-phase geothermal resource at 140°C. For this project, Turboden supplied its ORC turbine and process engineering along with commissioning and start-up of the plant.