EDC to restart Northern Negros geothermal plant

Energy Development Corp., the country's biggest geothermal energy producer, will soon restart its Northern Negros geothermal power plant to "evaluate the performance" of the wells, the company said Wednesday. The plant's three-month operation will also "validate [the] data gathered from its technical tests," Energy Development said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. The disclosure did not say when the power plant will restart for performance evaluation. An affiliate of Lopez-led First Gen Corp., Energy Development said that as of end-March, it has finished studying and surveying 61 percent of its "geophysical stations." "With the completion… Energy Development would be conducting an initial assessment of the quality of data already gathered before resuming and completing the programmed survey," the company said. Energy Development temporarily shut down its Northern Negros plant last November to conduct more tests and to increase the steam from the Northern Negros geothermal production field. The plant has a 49-megawatt boilerplate capacity. The production field is also operated by the Energy Development. Earlier, the company said it needed to shut down the power plant and steam field "while technical studies are being conducted." Energy Development reported a decline in steam production since 2008 due to calcite mineral clogging of wells in the geothermal field. — JE/VS, GMA News