Using a combination of clean and low-carbon sources, First Gen delivers reliable power to our customers while minimizing the negative impact on the surrounding communities and environment. The Company’s manufactured capital comprises 31 power projects all over the Philippines that have a combined installed capacity of 3,474.2MW. In 2023, they generated a total of 21,604.5GWh and powered 19.3% of the Philippines.
The natural gas supply from Malampaya for 2023 was below the requirements of the First Gen Clean Energy Complex (FGCEC) plants due to the continuing depletion of the gas field. As a result, there were instances when the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo power plants operated on condensate fuel in place of natural gas.
The natural gas power plants overall produced less power in 2023 than 2022. This was due to unplanned outages from Santa Rita and San Lorenzo, wherein certain units or systems needed rectification; and where Avion’s output decreased despite its high availability and reliability mainly due to a shift from the energy market to ancillary services and partly because of lesser opportunities at the WESM as a result of high power reserves of the grid. In contrast, the output of San Gabriel increased compared to the previous year with less planned outages and high dispatch rates.
With the continuing depletion of gas supply from the Malampaya Gas Field, the available supply of natural gas was not enough to sustain First Gen’s gas plants. There had been instances in 2023 where the Santa Rita and San Lorenzo plants operated on liquid fuel in its place. Despite this, the power plants managed to maintain its operations based on dispatch. In response to the ongoing decline of Malampaya gas supply, First Gen’s gas plants commenced with being commissioned to run on LNG on Q4 2023. Two LNG deliveries were received within the year for their commissioning to use regasified LNG.
First Gen’s Leyte and Mt. Apo plants saw an increase in generation versus the targets for 2023, primarily through technological advancements and improvements in operational efficiency. Meanwhile, the Negros and Bacman sites had lower generation than the target due to technical problems detected in the facilities, particularly with a generator rotor in the Negros site and the initial turbine rolling in Bacman. These issues have been detected and addressed in a timely manner, with both sites resolving them by the first half of 2024.
Work continues for the Palayan Binary Project, the Tanawon Geothermal Power Plant, the Mahanagdong Geothermal Brine Optimization Plant, and the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) projects in Tongonan, Southern Negros, and Bacman. First Gen ensures that these projects continue to comply with all local and national regulations during their construction and prioritizes safe man hours and HSE-compliant working conditions.
First Gen, through EDC, was able to fulfill obligations to our contracts in 2021 to 2023 through generation from our plants. During outages, the maintenance allowances on these contracts were invoked. For maintenance allowances that are fully utilized, or for contracts with no maintenance allowance, EDC purchases from the WESM to fulfill said contracts.
December’s Year-To-Date (YTD) gross generation declined by 19.70 percent from 303.10gWhs in 2022 to 249.86gWhs in 2023 due to the comparatively lower Pantabangan reservoir water elevation for the first half and last quarter of 2023 compared to 2022. This greatly affected the dependable capacity or capability of the Pantabangan hydroelectric plant (HEP) to generate electricity.
The Ancillary Services sales for 2023 also significantly declined compared to 2022 due to the expiration of FGHPC’s ASPA contract with NGCP effective March 2023. Renewal of ASPA is through Competitive Selection Process (CSP) as required by the DOE and ERC. However, the Company did not apply for ASPA for Regulating, Contingency and Dispatchable Reserve services as the requirement is for generators offer to be “FIRM”, or continual offer throughout the contract period, of which the plant cannot provide, having a cyclical or seasonal generation only. First Gen is looking at offering A/S again when the Reserve Market commences commercial operation in the first quarter of 2024.
Overall, FGHPC was able to fulfill our contracted PSAs as well as our energy offers to the IEMOP for 2023. As of December 25, 2023, our contracted capacity is at 41.77MWs. However, due to the challenges mentioned on the Pantabangan water level at the reservoir and in anticipation of the onset of El Niño, we are looking at further reducing our contracted capacity to around 28MWs or lower for 2024. This can be done by transferring some of our PSAs to EDC and/or non-renewal of our expiring short-term PSAs, particularly for contestable customers engaged by our RES.
FGBPC obtained approval from the IEMOP as WESM Direct Member and Trading Participant (Generation Company Category). The WESM membership is effective January 12, 2023. During the process, FGBPC coordinated with the system operator (NGCP) for the plant to fit with the technical requirement considering that the plant systems are manually operated.
Just like in prior years, the PSA between FGBPC and CEPALCO also reached full compliance. Minor comments/ feedback on communications which affect the hourly/ data reporting of plant data have also been addressed.
In 2023, the Burgos site was affected by stronger winds from Low Pressure Areas (LPA) in January and November and Typhoons Mawar (Betty) in May and Egay (Doksuri) in July.
Typhoon Egay brought about strong winds that caused the outage of five Wind Turbine Generators (WTG). Our typhoon inspections discovered that the units suffered Arc Flash Damage. With only one spare transformer, the Company had to source replacement transformers from Denmark and the USA. The outage has an estimated loss of 12.56GWh. With careful planning, the spare parts were delivered before the year ended, and the Wind Turbines were restored to full operation by the second week of November. Damaged WTGs were restored between August 28 to November 13, 2023.
The FiT rate for wind (applicable for the years 2016-2020) underwent escalation as per the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Resolution No. 6, Series of 2020, titled “A Resolution Approving the Adjustment to the Feed-In Tariff (FiT),” which was officially published on November 17, 2020 and took effect on December 2, 2020. The resolution stipulates a five-year duration for the actual recovery of arrears.
Accordingly, entities with the January 2016 generation period were invoiced in December 2020 and received payment in January 2021. This payment cycle has continued in subsequent months, adhering to the five-year recovery period outlined in the resolution. We have diligently collected these arrears on a monthly basis since the commencement of this process.
On February 19, 2021, the ERC issued a letter to Transco, indicating that, until the approval of the 2021 FiT-All rate and the adjustment of FiT rates, the initially approved FiT rates should be applied for the billing related to the 2021 generation. As of now, no approval has been granted for the FiT rates for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
As of the end of September 2023, the EDC Burgos Wind Power Corporation’s (EBWPC) receivables from Transco amounted to approximately PHP2.4 billion.
Due to the proactive nature of our COVID-19 management since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the operation and production of First Gen’s plants have continued or not been impeded. Many adjustments and efforts were made on the ground to protect the workers, including sheltering in place in 2020 and vaccination of more than 90% of employees and contractors, which led to uninterrupted service by the Company to our customers and communities.
As such, the only significant change to plant complex generation is the ability to remotely operate plants in a designated area outside of the control rooms to ensure continual plant operation, even when plant operators are not physically present at the plant.
Plants, including support personnel, have successfully transitioned to 100 percent face-to-face operations and have effectively adapted to the new normal. COVID-like symptoms in employees, if any, are managed with the use of basic personal protective equipment (PPE) and house isolation for a short duration of time, if necessary. Part of the new normal is also the availability of work-from-home arrangements, which are allowed on a case to case basis.
Enforcing minimum public health standards like masking, physical distancing, and hand hygiene is now ingrained as routine practice. Robust campaigns for COVID vaccination as well as other respiratory conditions such as flu and pneumonia were also conducted to reduce the incidence of disease. In addition, improvements to ventilation through Carbon Dioxide Level Assessment were conducted at work sites.
Moving forward, the Company will emphasize vaccination, ventilation, and minimum public health standards. The focus is to make the company “pandemic-proof” through the enhancement of existing protocols and guidelines, applying the learnings from COVID-19. First Gen will continue to support a hybrid work setup for our operations, allowing our employees the greatest degree of flexibility to fulfill their roles while also ensuring the continual smooth operation of our facilities.
The upgrade of FGHPC’s Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) was also approved in late 2023. This initiative aims to implement a more reliable and permanent enterprise asset management (EAM) solution that will address plant operation requirements and the performance management of our physical assets. Further, this shall prevent the loss of maintenance history/records, as the CMMS so ware (Infor EAM Version 10.1) and its operating system (Windows Server 2008) are already obsolete. FGHPC also initiated the upgrading project of our control system for Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) in late 2023. This is a three-year project, culminating in 2025.
For office environments, carbon dioxide sensors were purchased to assess the ventilation in all meeting rooms. Carbon dioxide can be used as an indicator of adequate air exchange in a workspace. This initiative is in accordance with DOLE 224-21 entitled “Guidelines on Ventilation for the Workplaces and Public Transport to Prevent and Control the Spread of COVID-19”, which states that “...a level of 1,000 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide, as detected by carbon dioxide sensors has been established as the maximum threshold for which a room can be considered safe, and well ventilated.” This initiative has enabled the Company to safely implement curated face-to-face work opportunities in our hybrid setup while exercising optimal infection prevention control.
Kandao video conferencing equipment has also been made available. Employees can request the use of Kandao equipment in our meeting rooms to improve virtual interactions
Lastly, the Company has also purchased an additional Dongfeng Rich 6 EV to complement our Nissan LEAF EV used by site employees in FGCEC for official business trips. Using the EVs reduces our carbon emissions by approximately two tons per year, compared to using vehicles powered by diesel or gasoline.
The Resiliency Compliance Plans for FGPC, FGP, FNPC, PMPC were submitted to the DOE in 2018. The plans included emergency response measures under the categories of system, stockpiling, response and recovery, and strengthening infrastructure. The documents also discussed the establishment of an Emergency Response Team, Emergency Response Plan, Emergency Drills, and Maintenance of Fire and Protection Systems and Firefighting equipment. Programs on the monitoring of emergency supplies inventory, and spares and consumables inventory on a periodic and regular basis were also tackled.
An updated Resiliency Compliance Plan was submitted to the DOE in May 2023. The plan includes emergency response measures completed from 2018 to 2023. This includes the completion of Flood Tsunami Protection in 2021 (Storm Surge Protection) and the Shoreline Erosion Mitigation Project in 2023, among others, and helps to mitigate flooding in the complex during typhoons and heavy rains. All other reported projects and programs are still being implemented at the power plants. The Department of Energy raised no concerns regarding the submitted plans.
The Company has also continued the engineering controls, such as the Cooling Tower Replacements in Leyte and the Building Retrofitting Projects. As a result, First Gen does not have Landslide Mitigation (LMM) projects at our geothermal sites for the first time. Because of the continuous proactive mitigation we have done in the previous year, we have maintained the landslide risk level across sites at low to medium. In 2023, we completed another two cooling tower replacements in Leyte, completing the upgrade of all nine cooling towers in Leyte. First Gen also completed three building retrofitting projects in Leyte, Negros, and BacMan, with completed 12 LMMs in Leyte and Negros. EDC has reduced natural catastrophe (Nat Cat) risks to a medium level, and we will continue our risk mitigation effort to maintain the current risk level.
First Gen has also invested in studies that will help us refine our risk assessments and identify necessary risk reduction measures, such as the Building Integrity Assessments of other old power plant buildings. The first batch of buildings under the current retrofitting program were constructed in the 1980s and designed based on the old building code of 1976. We now want to look at the actual conditions of buildings built in the 1990s and designed based on the old building code of 1992. In 2023, we conducted another batch of Building Integrity Assessments to check the actual conditions of buildings built in the 1990s.
The Company has also drafted the EDC’s Head Office Business Continuity Management Plan (HO BCM Plan) to cover “The Big One” Scenario. This is aligned with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Contingency Plan (NECP) for “The Big One.” In 2023, we established the high level strategy for EDC Head Office’s BCM Plan for“The Big One”, which is aligned with the Parent Company’s strategy. All corresponding initiatives to ensure that we have a working BCM plan will be continued in 2024.
First Gen has also implemented various emergency response management activities in our Burgos plants, our geothermal facilities, and our corporate head office. These include the conduct of relevant emergency response training, drills, stockpiling of emergency supplies, and updating of relevant emergency response guidelines.
The highlights of FGHPC’s Resiliency Plan for 2023 are the Refurbishment of Housing Compound Suppression System (amounting to PHP11.3 million) and the Gas Suppression System for the Pantabangan and Masiway HEP Control Rooms, including the the Fire Suppression System for Electrical Cabinets (amounting to PHP12.0 million).
For FGBPC, the plant’s Resiliency Plan in 2023 includes strengthening infrastructure activities/projects. These include, among others, the Riverbank Restoration project and the Main Diversion Weir Toe Repair and Improvement.
First Gen remains committed to our Net-Zero goals. Our plants and facilities push initiatives related to the development of low-carbon energy solutions and contribute to our targets on the share of low-carbon sources in total power generation or capacity.
FGPC, FGP, FNPC, and PMPC have adopted the plantations in the Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed Forest Reserve (PCWFR) for the establishment, maintenance, replanting, and enhancement planting activities in the 1,209-hectare plantation as a potential carbon offsetting option, which has an average carbon sequestration potential of 22,900 tons per year. We also continually monitor updates on emerging technologies that can decarbonize our gas plants, such as carbon capture technology and using alternative fuels such as hydrogen.
In December 2023, solar panels were installed on the rooftop of the Avion site’s car park, comprising a total of 80 solar PV modules with a total actual power generating capacity of 44kW. Energy produced by the Avion Solar PV Panels is used to supply power consumption within the Avion Power Plant compound and other equipment.
FGHPC successfully conducted our Level 1 Energy Audit as required by the DOE for PHEP, being a type 1 Designated Establishment (DE). Although MHEP is classified as “other” DE, we conducted an internal energy audit as well to determine compliance with the requirements of RA 11285 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). For our compliance, two FGHPC employees underwent rigorous training and accreditation processes to become DOE- accredited energy auditors. As clarified by DOE, however, an independent investigation should be conducted. As such, we engaged a third party provider, WESTCO Electrical & Equipment Corp., that reviewed and certified the energy audit report of our energy auditors.
As a certified ISO 14001 company, FGHPC had environmental targets for 2023, one of which was the reduction of our residual waste by five percent. This translates to a target reduction of our residual waste disposed at the municipal waste facility from 75.50 tons to 67.95 tons or by 7.55 tons. However, our actual reduction rate was 11.26 percent as we were able to reduce our residual waste to 8.5 tons.
FGBPC continued the implementation of its Water Consumption Management, which is set to be improved in 2024 (repiping of water systems and installation of additional monitoring meters), and the energy conservation program, including the gradual replacement of its lighting system with LED lighting fixtures. With the Enercon program in place, FGBPC was able to control and reduce its energy consumption by around 16MWh in 2023—150.69MWh compared with 166.67MWh in 2022.
Other First Gen decarbonization efforts are pursued together with EDC, such as the completion of our Greenhouse Gas Accounting Pre-Assurance. This project was completed in 2023 in order to identify improvement opportunities in the GHG emissions accounting and reporting processes of First Gen and EDC, in order to prepare the organization for an external limited assurance in the next few years.
The Company has also partnered with EDC to roll out the Zero Carbon Gateway online platform to our Net Zero Carbon Alliance (NZCA) partners, as a way for them to track their net zero journey based on the NZCA framework. NZCA closed 2023 with a total of 21 partners (from 12 in 2022) coming from various Philippine industry sectors.
Alongside EDC BINHI, First Gen continuously upholds its commitment to protecting the natural flora and fauna of the Philippines, as well as supporting the communities that function as their natural caretakers and safeguards. Alongside our commitment to net-zero operations and our continual development of low-carbon solutions, the Company hopes to keep our operations in line with our Mission, Purpose, and Chosen Path.
For the first half of the year, the Project achieved Practical Completion pursuant to the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Regulation (PDNGR), the delivery and acceptance of four tug boats, and the start of the provision of towage services.
The second half of the year saw the delivery and berthing of the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) BW Batangas at the Multi-Purpose Jetty (MPJ), and the completion of commissioning of the FSRU at the MPJ. This was marked by a successful send-out of regasified LNG to the First Gen gas power plants, with a confirmed receipt of two LNG cargoes by the FSRU.
First Gen Ecopower Solutions, Inc. has ongoing permitting activities and contractor selection processes related to the development of the 2 x 630MW Santa Maria Gas-Fired Combined Cycle Power Plant Project (SM CCPP). In addition, the site preparation works are being completed as part of the initial construction phase of the SM CCPP.
The project achieved first grid synchronization January 12, 2024 and is now exporting and selling energy to the Luzon grid. It is now completing the testing and commissioning stage of the project.
As of December 31, 2023, the Tanawon Geothermal Power Plant (TGPP) is half-way into construction. It has achieved 1,888,930 labor-hours without Lost Time Incidents. Critical equipment to complete the project is now at site.
Mahanagdong Binary has achieved a total of 831,491 safe man hours since the early site development phase of the project in the fourth quarter of 2022. All of the construction contracts were awarded and executed by 2023.
Site construction started in March 2023, with foundation piling works completed in November 2023.
Bago Binary has achieved around 791,000 safe man hours with no lost time incident since the start of the development of the project. The project is targeting to achieve the commissioning schedule of Q3 2024.
Tongonan BESS: Excavation completed at BESS area and control building. Lean concreting completed and rebar installation is ongoing. Southern Negros BESS: Excavation completed at BESS area. Lean concreting completed and rebar installation is ongoing. Bacman BESS: Bored piling works completed at BESS area. Ongoing bored piling at switchyard area.
In 2023, First Gen completed the PI energy audit across EDC and our subsidiaries. Based on the results, we are now considering the following recommendations.
First Gen will pursue the implementation of ISO 50001 or any similar framework. This will have a significant long- term effect as it involves implementing a systematic and proactive approach to energy efficiency driven by energy monitoring data.
The Company will also establish an energy efficiency committee as part of our energy management strategy. The committee can include representatives from various departments within the plant and should have clear roles and responsibilities to ensure that energy-saving measures are quantified and implemented effectively.
While the presence of the power meters is a positive step in energy management, the manual recording of data can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Therefore, it is recommended that the plant consider implementing an automated system for data collection and recording to improve the accuracy and efficiency of energy monitoring and reporting.
The energy auditors also recommend continuing the initiative of transitioning to inverter-type air conditioning units (ACUs). Studies show that inverter-type ACUs’ start-up is reduced to 30 percent and the running compressor will draw only that much power required to maintain the set temperature. This thus consumes approximately 20-50 percent less energy compared to non-inverter units.
It is recommended that Palinpinon I continue its transition to energy-efficient LED lighting, which has already been implemented to a significant extent.
In addition, the use of photoelectric sensors can help reduce energy waste by automatically turning off lights when natural light is available or when an area is unoccupied. This technology can be easily integrated with the LED lighting system and can further reduce energy consumption in the plant.
Aside from the installation in different sump areas, it is recommended to continue the implementation of solar- powered lights along the facility’s perimeter. In addition, they can operate autonomously, reducing operational costs as well as the need for maintenance.
First Gen also renewed our partnership with Plastic Flamingo (Plaf) in 2023. Through the program, Head Office employees can donate their plastic wastes (drop-off point at RBC basement parking) to Plaf. Plaf will then turn these donations into usable construction materials, such as boards to replace plywood.
The Company’s most significant acquisition and milestone in 2023 was the Casecnan plant. In May 2023, First Gen, acting through its wholly-owned subsidiary Fresh River Lakes Corp. (FRLC), emerged as the successful highest bidder in the privatization of the 165- MW Casecnan Hydro Electric Power Plant in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija. The Notice of Award was officially conferred upon FRLC on May 26, 2023.
The Pantabangan-Masiway reservoir sources 40 percent of its water from the Casecnan transbasin project, and as such, there is additional incentive for First Gen to preserve or improve the water flows into the Pantabangan reservoir. The water flow seasonality of Casecnan is also complementary to Pantabangan- Masiway; peak water flows of Casecnan usually occur in the wet months while Pantabangan-Masiway is most productive in the dry months, allowing First Gen to contract on a portfolio basis and minimize replacement power costs from the market.
The 100- to 120-MW Aya Pumped-Storage Hydro Power Project is targeted for implementation by the second quarter of 2024. The detailed engineering design of the civil, hydromechanical, and electromechanical works is on-going and most of the permits and endorsements have already been secured.
In 2023, our projects, namely the 32-MW Bubunawan, 33-MW Tagoloan, 30-MW Puyo, and 49-MW San Isidro projects, continued to make progress in our pre-development activities. These hydro projects in Mindanao will capitalize on opportunities within the renewable energy sector.
First Gen continues to make improvements to our wind and solar facilities while setting the groundwork for future sites. These improvements include the supply and installation of UL/FM approved Orient227 (FM200) Fire Suppression System at the Basement Cable Spreading Room and an analysis of a potential 100-MW solar farm in Leyte and a 30-MW wind farm in Burgos.
The Company also completed the replacement of Pin Insulators of Solar Facility TL, which mitigates the outages caused by wear and tear of the installed material, and the installation of the Line Recloser to protect the system outside Burgos Solar Facility from outages caused internally.
Other completed projects include: the Burgos NatCat Camera installation to monitor the switchyard HV equipment during extreme weather conditions (accomplished on September 28, 2023); the stone masonry wall canal construction near the access road near WTG C07 and Kapurpurawan road near TL SP09 & SP10 as permanent mitigations to prevent the risk of soil erosion; and the stone masonry wall construction along the access road near WTG C07 (accomplished on January 25, 2023).
Additional Stone Masonry wall construction along Kapurpurawan access road near Transmission Lines Steel Poles SP09 and SP10 was also completed on February 23, 2023.
First Gen continues to improve on our operational efficiencies in alignment with the Company’s goals, capabilities, and ways to play.
First Gen continuously looks into how we can optimize the flexibility of our gas plants to support variable renewable energy sources and offer customers a portfolio experience. We continue to explore new opportunities and discuss them with our contractor to potentially increase the efficiency of our power plants and reduce their carbon intensity.
We also look into decarbonizing other parts of our operations. Following this initiative, the Company purchased another EV, the Dongfeng Rich 6 EV, in 2023. We will gradually increase our EV fleet to further increase our avoided emissions.
The Company keeps abreast of emerging technologies that can decarbonize our gas plants, such as carbon capture technology and using alternative fuels such as hydrogen. This also extends to our operational processes, such as the continuous development of our team’s capabilities in Agile and Waterfall Project Management. We have also pushed the adoption of Agile and Waterfall Project Management practices across various projects and initiatives.
First Gen has recently completed the negotiation of the lease agreement with Prime Infra for a 15-year lease of the FGEN LNG liquefied natural gas storage and regasification terminal in Batangas to ensure fuel supply for the gas plants. We are also discussing with our contractors and studying several proposals to extend the life of our Santa Rita and San Lorenzo power plants for at least 10 years more.
Established in September 2021, NZCA is EDC’s response to its mission to forge collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.
As the country’s first initiative spearheaded by the private sector to achieve net zero carbon emissions among businesses, NZCA seeks to inspire and assist Philippine businesses in taking immediate steps to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and contribute to the country’s efforts to address the climate crisis.
NZCA provides its partners with a framework to achieve its goal by sharing best practices, scaling up carbon emission reduction and tracking, and providing better access to green financing, among many other capacity-building tools based on EDC’s over 45-year experience in decarbonization.
First Gen also continues to improve our employees’ skill sets and understanding of project management approaches by conducting training on Agile methodology. By conducting 24 sessions throughout the year for 543 participants, we successfully improved employees’ understanding of Agile ways of working. As a result, they became adept at reporting concerns early, adapting to changes swiftly, and enhancing collaboration within teams. Meetings are now more productive, focusing on specific actions and desired outcomes. This has created a transparent and agile work culture.
The Company also organized three Agile Scrum certification training sessions for project leaders and agilists, involving a total of 63 participants. These sessions achieved a passing rate of at least 60 percent, representing a notable improvement compared to previous years.
First Gen also provided mentorship and training to three Agilists, empowering them to champion Agile ways of working initiatives for facilities and operations. This collaborative approach, coupled with solutions-driven discussions, resulted in the achievement of high-performing team outcomes for the year.
The Company also believes in taking the initiative to optimize operations beyond efficiency by identifying risks and mitigating any possible harm they may have on our plants and facilities. The Company’s 2023 NatCat Resiliency Program was focused on two approaches. The first is the continuation of the engineering controls, such as the Cooling Tower Replacements in Leyte and the Building Retrofitting Projects. The second approach focuses on investment in studies that will help us refine our risk assessments and identify necessary risk reduction measures, like the Building Integrity Assessment of other old power plant buildings.
First Gen Energy Solution (FGES) directly engages FGHPC’s power customers, while our RES engage our contestable customers. Annual Customer Satisfaction surveys are conducted by FGHPC to augment the efforts of FGES and our RES.
The Company has also installed solar panels at our Biodiversity Center with two objectives: to reduce the prohibitive pricing of our local electricity provider (PAMES) and to power our facility through clean energy. We have also promoted mini renewable projects, such as the replacement of some perimeter lights with LED lighting that uses solar panels as its power source.
Similar to 2022, FGHPC’s business model has a net-zero carbon footprint. In fact, with the full implementation of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) rule and the operation of the Renewable Energy Market, FGHPC shall “sell” our excess Renewable Energy Certificate (RECs) to the market to support non-RE energy users to be compliant to the RPS rules.
First Gen also implements Agile methodologies in the development of our various hydro projects, with this methodology highlighted in the recent successful bid of the Casecnan HEP. With the BDG-Hydro team leading these projects, shared resources and expertise are deployed and being utilized evenly across the other sites — Aya, Bubunawan, San Isidro, Puyo, and Tagoloan. This ensures that our plant employees have access to the tools, knowledge, and support needed to develop multiple projects at the same time, without sacrificing quality or the timely delivery of their outputs.
As mentioned in our current hydro projects (Aya, Bubunawan, San Isidro, Puyo, and Tagoloan Projects) highlighted by the successful bid to the Casecnan HEP, we are simultaneously implementing various hydro projects that are currently in different stages of development. With the BDG-Hydro team leading these projects, shared resources and expertise are deployed and being utilized.
To ensure that FGHPC’s asset portfolios thrive in a constantly changing business, regulatory and climate change landscape, we subscribed to the requirements of ISO 55001:2014. By conforming to this international standard, we aim to optimize the use of these critical assets throughout and even beyond their useful lives. Conformity involves the establishment of the Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) as well as the Asset Management Plans (AMP) of critical asset systems, ensuring effective management of physical assets through consideration of Asset Cost, Performance, and Risk.
The Company has also installed a fire alarm system (FAS) at the powerhouse’s control panel and replaced FAS at the Admin compound; conducted repair and improvement of the plant’s appurtenant structures (i.e. Weir, Canal, riverbank); complied with our usual regulatory standards; equipped personnel though emergency preparedness response (EPR) training; and installed satellite phones at the plant as a back-up communication system.
First Gen continues our goals of optimizing our operations to produce significantly less waste and emissions. We have pursued improvements in energy conservation and efficiency in our office designs by maximizing natural lighting and optimizing the number of air conditioning units.
The Company has also pursued an LED-centric lighting scheme whenever possible. The wattage of the LED lights should be appropriately sized based on the recommended working conditions found in the Occupational Safety and Health Standards of the Department of Labor and Employment. First Gen has also hired Occupational Health Specialists from the site of Head Office to consult so our sites stay compliant with this initiative.
First Gen has also implemented waste management and circularity initiatives to control the plastic waste produced by the Burgos Wind facilities. “Trash to Cash” is a continuous improvement idea by the site CSR Lead, developed in partnership with the Environment group as the implementing team for this initiative. This program hopes to influence attitudes toward waste segregation and plastic use through cash incentives. Collected plastics are then ground into smaller pieces, which can be used to make eco-bricks for small-scale construction projects such as eco-bricking.
As a regenerative technology, eco-bricking can be part of a solution that enables people to not only clean up their rivers and coastlines, but also to use waste materials for building structures that directly benefit the local communities. To this end, EDC Burgos Wind Power Corporation conducted a workshop on eco-bricking to educate pupils, teachers, and parents about eco-bricking’s possibilities.
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