Securing market for a new capacity appears tough, and upstart geothermal firm Envent seem to prove that as it just cornered power supply agreement (PSA) for 10-percent of its proposed capacity
since it started brandishing its project last year.

In a press statement, Envent chief executive officer Gudmundur F. Sigurjonsson noted the company cornered a deal for it to supply Biliran Electric Cooperative (BILECO) with 8,600 megawatt hour (MWh) of its generation annually.

He said the supply contract would be worth $47 million in 10 years – calculated
at a levelized price of $94 per MWh. Envent is majority-owned by Iceland-based Geysir Green Energy, which uses Reykjavik Energy Invest as its investing unit for overseas opportunities.

Reykjavik was first known in the fraternity of players in the Philippine power industry when it partnered with Lopez-controlled Red Vulcan Holdings in the acquisition of the majority shares of Energy Development Corporation, only to back out later.

“The baseload electricity will come from Envent’s 50 MW Biliran Unit 1 geothermal power plant which is scheduled to come online in 2012,” the company executive said.

Envent though is expecting to sign more supply contracts with other off-takers, mainly electric cooperatives in the coming months.

“Parallel to working on completing more PPAs, we will be working on the financial structure of the project, which we expect will take between 6 and 12 months," Sigurjonsson said.

This early, the company has been computing its ‘un-hatched eggs’ of power supply agreements for the 50-MW power plant to be worth $515 million.

“Envent is a renewable energy business dedicated to the exploration of geothermal resources in the Philippines as well as to the development of geothermal power plants in the region,” the company said.

It added that the upstream segment of the Biliran Unit 1 project, which involves geothermal steam exploration for its fuel, is being executed in collaboration with Biliran Geothermal Incorporated and several other local companies.