First Gen to power Holcim facilities with geothermal energy

Aug 19, 2024

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(from left), Horia Adrian, Holcim head of decarbonization for Asia, the Middle East and Africa; Nicolas George, Holcim Philippines president and chief executive officer; Francis Giles Puno, First Gen president and chief operating officer; and Vincent Martin Villegas, First Gen senior vice president and chief revenue officer.

First Gen Corp. has been tapped by Holcim Philippines to supply electricity from a geothermal energy source to run the latter's Mindanao manufacturing plants.

Under the agreement, First Gen will provide Holcim with electricity from Energy Development Corp.'s geothermal plant in North Cotabato to meet 22 percent of the power needs of the cement manufacturer's facilities in Bunawan, Davao City and Lugait, Misamis Oriental.

Holcim said the move is in line with its decarbonization direction.

The partnership between First Gen and Holcim was enabled by the recent introduction in Mindanao of the government's Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) program.

Under RCOA, eligible power consumers whose monthly average peak demand reaches at least 500 kilowatts can choose their own electricity suppliers.

"This partnership is a significant step towards meeting our goal to source 65 percent of our power needs from renewable energy by 2030 to decarbonize our business. We are excited and confident to work with First Gen, a company that shares our strong commitment to sustainability and a leading provider of renewable energy in the country," said Nicolas George, Holcim Philippines president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Holcim Philippines is one of the country's largest construction materials providers with four cement manufacturing plants, aggregates and dry mix businesses as well as technical support facilities for building solutions.

Since 2018, Holcim Philippines has reduced its carbon footprint by more than 20 percent by producing more blended cements, replacing coal with qualified wastes as alternative fuels and raw materials, shifting to RE and improving efficiency of operations.

Meanwhile, First Gen, as a power generation company, has a combined capacity of 3,668.2 megawatts (MW) with a portfolio utilizing natural gas, geothermal, hydroelectric, wind and solar power technologies.

The company also aims to grow its total capacity to 13,000 MW in the next six years and spend as much as $20 billion until 2030.

https://malaya.com.ph/news_business/first-gen-to-power-holcim-facilities-with-geothermal-energy/