May 28--Pete Maniego, PNOC-Renewables Corp. (PNOC-RC) president said the company would participate in the Philippine Energy Contracting Round for geothermal projects scheduled in the third quarter this year.

"We're going to bid in the next contracting round for geothermal projects, which is scheduled in September. And we're looking at two projects, one in Luzon and one in Mindanao," he said.

PNOC-RC is the recently established renewable energy arm of PNOC, which is looking to diversify its portfolio in the power sector following government's privatization of its geothermal unit, Energy Development Corp. (EDC) last year. The Lopez group, through Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., won the bid for EDC.

PNOC-RC is focusing its growth on greenfield projects in line with its mandate to jumpstart the country's renewable energy sector, which was recently given a shot in the arm after Congress passed a law granting fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to proponents of such projects.

Maniego said the company will not participate in the privatization of National Power Corp.'s plants and contracted capacities.

"Our mandate is for new renewable energy projects to develop more power capacity for the country, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao areas, which are already experiencing power shortages," he said.

Besides geothermal projects, PNOC-RC is also keen on investing in solar and hydro projects, which it plans to accomplish within two years.

Last month, the company signed a memorandum of agreement with Constellation Energy Corp., a subsidiary of Toronto-based Enerasia Renewable Corp., for the development of "green" power projects in the Philippines.

Both companies are initially looking into projects in the Mindoro, Palawan and Visayas areas, which are already suffering energy shortages.

"For the hydro power, we are looking at putting up mini-hydro power plants--so these will be around 1 megawatt and up. We are also partial to run-of-the-river type of hydropower projects or those without dams. Renewable energy should also preserve the environment as much as possible and dams tend to dislocate a lot of flora and fauna," Maniego said.

For solar, the official said that PNOC-RC will continue to pursue its mother company's drive to install solar home systems in areas not served by the country's power grid system.

The company has already inked a memorandum of understanding with partners from Korea and Canada and is about to sign similar deals with German and Australian companies.

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