MANILA, Philippines — After acquiring 70-percent stake in geothermal projects for Chile and Peru, Lopez-controlled firm Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has indicated plans of expanding further its overseas foray in geothermal-rich jurisdictions of Asia and Africa.

The company specified that it “is also looking at opportunities to develop geothermal projects in Indonesia and Kenya.” The Indonesian foray has long been hinted, but the company was able to break in first with its targeted investments in Chile.

EDC’s completion of negotiations for the joint venture agreement (JVA) with Australian partner Hot Rock Limited then signals that it can already move forward into accelerating development activities in their project areas.

“We now look forward to starting exploration work in what we view as attractive geothermal concessions in both Chile and Peru,” EDC chairman and chief executive officer Federico R. Lopez said.

He added these projects provide opportunities for EDC to once again showcase its “expertise and help elevate the company as a Philippine corporate champion on the world stage.”

Lopez similarly emphasized that “the acquisition of these concessions in Latin America are the first steps in realizing our vision to establish a global presence and further solidify our positions as the pre-eminent international leader in geothermal power development.”

Beyond the partnership it recently concluded with Australian firm Hot Rock Limited, the publicly listed firm noted that it “submitted 13 applications for geothermal concessions in Chile.”

The Chilean Ministry of Energy has just recently confirmed the award to EDC of three geothermal concession areas in Newen, San Rafael and Batea; wherein the company was given exclusive rights to develop them.

The Lopez firm disclosed that it will deploy a full team of geothermal scientists to Chile this month “to start development activities on the joint venture projects and the EDC granted projects.”

EDC claims the spot of being the world’s largest integrated producer of geothermal power and an acknowledged global leader in wet steam technology.

Its Philippine portfolio boasts of roughly 1,130 megawatts of installed geothermal capacity and that is seen climbing in the coming years with its pipelined expansion projects.

The company logs more than 35 years of experience in developing geothermal power projects in the country. Onward, it is eyeing to leverage from that expertise by expanding its operations globally. (MMV)