Pertamina eyes geothermal business in Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR – Indonesian power giant PT Pertamina is interested in exploring and investing in the untapped geothermal potential of the Philippines, according to a top executive.

On the sidelines of the 2025 Energy Asia Awards held here on Monday, Pertamina vice president director Oki Muraza told The STAR the company sees growth opportunities in the Philippines, particularly in geothermal.

“Basically, if we (look at) the Philippines, it’s just in line with Sulawesi. So there’s a chance that the Philippines also has geothermal potential,” Muraza said.

Sulawesi is an island in Indonesia situated east of Borneo and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.

Asked about prospective local partners for the potential venture, Muraza said it has not been discussed yet.

“So we are not only developing energy for Indonesia, but we are also trying to expand to neighboring countries,” he said.

The Philippines was once the world’s second-largest producer of geothermal energy until Indonesia outranked the country in 2018.

The country’s installed generating capacity stood at 1,952 megawatts (MW) in 2023, latest data from the Department of Energy showed.

The DOE noted that the Philippines has about 2,000 MW of untapped geothermal potential that is “still worth developing.”

Geothermal facilities are clean sources of baseload supply or the minimum amount of electricity needed on the power grid to meet constant demand.

Earlier this year, PT Pertamina Power Indonesia

(Pertamina NRE), the green energy arm of the Pertamina Group, marked its entry into the Philippines via a strategic deal with tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC).

The deal, valued at around P6.7 billion, involves Pertamina NRE subscribing to about 2.23 billion common shares, equivalent to a 20-percent stake in CREC.

CREC president and CEO Oliver Tan said the company expects to close the investment this month.