Exergy to supply ORC unit to EDC’s Mindanao geothermal plant

Mindanao geothermal plant, Philippines (source: EDC)

Italian EXERGY INTERNATIONAL, part of  Chinese TICA Corporation, has signed a new contract with Energy Development Corporation (EDC) for the supply of an ORC binary system, as reported today in a press release.

Located in the Philippines on the Mindanao island, the new Mindanao 3 unit will be EDC’s first geothermal brine recovery plant to go online in 2022. It will help generate an additional 3.6 MWe of power from an existing geothermal field that utilizes the waste geothermal brine available from Mindanao 1 and 2 steam power plants, thus boosting the efficiency and sustainability of power generation at the site.

EDC is the world’s largest geothermal energy producer boasting over 40 years of history and over 1,180 MW of geothermal capacity in its portfolio. EDC has made the Philippines the third largest geothermal energy producer in the world for over three decades and an acknowledged leader in wet steam field technology.

The scope of Exergy’s project involves the engineering, design and supply of the ORC system and technical equipment, including the cooling towers and the brine dosing system. Moreover, Exergy’s task encompasses a substantial technical advisory service to EDC for the project execution.

Exergy’s solution for this project consists of a single pressure level bottoming cycle equipped with a Radial Outflow Turbine that will recover the thermal energy to produce 3.6 MWe of green power before the brine is re-injected into the reservoir.

The overall project has a very tight time schedule, and the start-up of the plant is expected by the first half of 2022. Once in operation, the ORC systems will help save around 16,000 tons of CO2 emission per year and 5000 tons of oil equivalent (TOE) consumed per year.

Albert Yam, CEO of EXERGY INTERNATIONAL comments: “We are very pleased that we have been selected by EDC for this project and we are eager to work side by side with one of the most highly recognized renewable energy players worldwide. The geothermal market in the whole Far East region has enormous potential still to be harnessed and can offer many opportunities to prove the reliability of Exergy’s cutting-edge technology for green power generation. We hope this could be the beginning of a trustworthy lifetime business relationship with EDC under our shared vision of shaping a decarbonized energy future”.

Marco Frassinetti, Exergy’s Sales Director adds: “This award is the result of an extensive and accurate cooperation between Exergy’s and EDC’s team to tailor an offer that could meet the customer requirements and we are very proud of the positive outcome of our joint effort. Brine recovery is a key application for our ORC technology, and it can effectively help to increase the power output of a flash plant with zero environmental impact. Moreover, brine recovery projects can be more easily implemented than greenfield geothermal, with much lower investment risks and start-up time. This first project with EDC is an excellent reference to develop this application”.

With this new contract EXERGY’s raises its portfolio in geothermal application at 442 MWe confirming as the second ORC supplier worldwide for capacity installed and under delivery.

Source: Company release by email