Maibarara geothermal wells reach commercial output

Two production wells of the 20-megawatt (MW) Maibarara Geothermal Project of PetroEnergy Resources Corp. at Mount Makiling in Laguna have achieved commercial output early this week. PetroEnergy’s corporate and legal affairs head on Thursday said the two wells have an aggregate capacity of 15 megawatts. More bore tests will be done until the end of May to determine if commercial output may be sustained. Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI) chairman Cesar A. Buenaventura said, “There are still a lot of things to hurdle to ensure that we can go into actual commercial development, foremost of which is the drilling of two additional wells to augment steam supply and re-injection capacity for the 20 MW power plant." Maibarara Geothermal is a joint venture of PetroEnergy, Trans-Asia Oil, Energy Development Corp. and PNOC Renewables Corp. If those hurdles are overcome, MGI will work on securing financing amounting to P2 billion, which will be used for field development, Buenaventura said. Energy Undersecretary Jose M. Layug Jr. has hailed the Maibarara project a successful public-private partnership and lauded MGI for its commitment. Buenaventura said MGI hopes the project will be viable. But he lamented that "the shortage of locally available drilling rigs and manpower is a significant constraint in our project schedule," he added. — ELR/VS, GMA News