FIRST GEN TO SUPPLY CLEAN POWER TO MANILA POLO CLUB

The Manila Polo Club has tapped the First Gen group for two years’ supply of 550 kilowatts of geothermal power as part of their sustainability program.

The club owns the eponymous 25-hectare sports and leisure club in Makati City, which is touted as a green oasis within Metro Manila.

First Gen vice president Carlos Vega said in a joint statement that the supply agreement would be fulfilled through Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI).

GCGI, a subsidiary of Energy Development Corp., owns and operates the 123-megawatt Tongonan plant in Leyte as well as the two Palinpinon plants—112.5 MW and 80 MW—in Negros Oriental. It holds a license as a retail electricity supplier.

Vega said GCGI would provide Manila Polo Club supply from Tongonan.

“We at Manila Polo Club have launched a policy to adopt environment-friendly practices as part of our own efforts to mitigate climate change,” club general manager Noel Barrameda said.

Barrameda added that the program also supported Republic Act No. 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act of 2019.

“We were pleasantly surprised to find out that using clean and renewable energy likewise allows us to save on our power bills, because First Gen offered us lower rates for electricity from its geothermal plant,” he said.

Aside from geothermal, First Gen’s portfolio of power plants also runs on renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind and solar.

First Gen also owns and operates power facilities that run on natural gas, considered the cleanest form of fossil fuel.