LIPA, Batangas — The Philippines may need about $60 billion in investments to explore and fully tap its estimated 2,100 megawatts (MW) of undeveloped geothermal resources, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin told reporters at the Philippine International Geothermal Conference held here Thursday.
The government has initially secured a P10-billion geothermal de-risking facility that could support exploration leading to about 300 MW of additional capacity, Garin added.
The 300 MW alone would provide a significant boost to the country’s power supply because geothermal plants can provide electricity around the clock, she said, but noted that unlocking the entire potential would require a bigger funding.
The de-risking facility will shoulder part of the high upfront costs associated with geothermal exploration, where developers face uncertainty over whether drilling will yield commercially viable resources.
Garin said a successful implementation of the program could encourage other financial institutions to support geothermal exploration, aside from the Asian Development Bank.
“We really have to be proper with the implementation of this facility,” she said, adding that the DOE must carefully select projects that will receive support.
DOE Chief Science Research Specialist Rainier Halcon said 12 active geothermal service contracts have initially been identified as potential beneficiaries of the facility.
The projects are greenfield developments that are still in the exploration drilling stage, one of the main criteria for assistance. Halcon said five additional areas have been identified as possible replacements, should any of the initial projects become inactive.
The amount of funding for each project will depend on the investment allocated under the developer’s work program, Halcon added.
The Philippines currently has 2,057 MW of installed geothermal capacity, which accounted for about 6.4 percent of the country’s electricity generation in 2025, according to the DOE.
The department hopes the development of additional geothermal resources could eventually raise the technology’s contribution to about 10 percent.
Garin said reaching that level would be significant since the country is also expanding capacity from other energy technologies.
“If we reach around 10 percent in installed capacity for geothermal, that would be ideal,” she said.
