Palawan hot springs tested for possible geothermal plant

By Riza Recio

04/11/2008

The Department of Energy (DoE) said a technical assessment is being done on two geothermal hot spring areas in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, for possible development as a small-scale power generator and a health spa for both domestic and local tourism, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.

Reyes said the DoE had started implementing a memorandum of agreement for the development of the hot springs in Sta. Lucia-Iwahig and Sta. Lourdes-Tagburos in Puerto Princesa.

Parties to the agreement are the DoE, the Philippine National Oil Co. geothermal unit PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) and the Puerto Princesa City government.

The agreement was signed in 2006 by former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, and Paul Aquino, president and chief executive officer of PNOC-EDC.

The agreement involves a technical cooperation agreement to assess the feasibility of both areas for spa resort development and to assess the geothermal resource potential of both areas for possible small-scale power and non-power applications, Reyes explained.

Under the agreement, the DoE will provide the technical personnel and equipment for the survey and PNOC-EDC will provide available data and act as technical consultant to the DoE. The PPC will provide the funds for the survey.

The Sta. Lucia-Iwahig and Sta. Lourdes-Tagburos hot spring areas have been previously investigated by the DoE and the Department of Tourism and have been selected as potential sites for health tourism.

As for the proposed small-scale power plant, initial findings indicated a potential after further processing.

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