Despite the country’s huge potential for producing renewable energy, the lack of incentives and limited access to land with sources of geothermal energy are holding back investors from venturing into geothermal, an official of the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said.
Interviewed on Friday at the sidelines of the Third Philippine Environment Summit held in Cagayan de Oro City, Allan V. Barcena, corporate social responsibility head said the company has no plan to expand or establish new concession areas. The company, Barcena said, is focused on putting up binary plants inside existing concessions.
Unlike solar and wind power, Barcena said geothermal energy is not getting any incentive from the government, as a come-on for investors.
“Given that wind, solar and hydro has an incentive, geothermal is not getting any incentive. We were told that geothermal is not a new technology but we are arguing that geothermal technology is evolving, like the reinjection technology,” he said.
Barcena said accessing areas with geothermal potential is difficult because most these sites are in protected areas. The National Integrated Protected Areas System Act strictly prohibits “environmentally critical” projects within strict protection zones in PAs.
