Southwest Kalinga, Philippines geothermal contract awarded to APEC

Dananao Tinglayan in Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines (source: Maridenic, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Aragorn Power and Energy Corp. (APEC), a unit of APC Group. Inc., has been awarded a new geothermal service contract (GSC) by the Philippines’ Department of Energy (DOE) for the Southwest Kalinga geothermal power project. The contract provides a seven-year exploration period that APEC can undertake in areas located within the municipalities of Pasil, Lubuagan, and Tingalyan in the province of Kalinga.

APEC currently holds the GSC for the proposed 100-MW Kalinga geothermal power project, which was originally awarded in 2008. The project had been in various stages of planning and development for more than a decade. The latest piece we published on this project in December 2019 states that APEC had completed exploration in the Kalinga project and is set to proceed with drilling.

Publicly available documents from APEC confirm that drilling of the PAS-02 exploration well had been completed. Positive results were obtained from the well in terms of temperature, but the results of permeability and chemistry were less encouraging. Thus, the plan was to continue to drill another exploration well, PAS 01. This plan had to be suspended due to the onset of the COVID pandemic.

Given the results of exploration drilling, further surface studies were recommended by APEC. The company applied for an extension of the GSC which was granted by the DOE in 2021.

The results of further exploration in the Kalinga project can be gleaned from the minutes of the 2023 Annual Shareholder’s Meeting of APEC. According to the document, results of 3G surveys reaffirm the existence of commercial temperatures in the project site, but at a narrower band of drilling targets. More, the results suggest the existence of multiple systems to the southwest of the current study area.

Thus, new investment was recommended to apply for a new service contract to possibly explore other systems to the southwest.

“We continue to remain committed to support our country’s objective to develop renewable energy and help improve the lives of our host community,” said Jason R. Aguirre, APC President.

Source: Philippine Star and APC Group