EDC cuts spending as drilling slows

Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) will slash its capital expenditure to P19 billion in 2026, down roughly 37 percent from P30 billion this year, as the country’s largest geothermal producer winds down domestic drilling after a period of heavy expansion.

EDC Chief Finance Officer Erwin Avante confirmed the company’s 2026 spending plans during a Monday interview at the Department of Energy’s Sustainable Energy Awards 2025 in Makati City.

“In the last two years, our capex was very heavy in terms of drilling and in terms of growth projects. So, next year, we’re winding down on drilling. There’s still drilling, but it’s not as much,” he said.

Avante added that the company also plans to drill just six geothermal wells next year, compared with 12 wells programmed this year and 24 wells in 2024, signaling a pause in aggressive domestic expansion.

Instead, EDC will push growth abroad. In August, its subsidiary PT FirstGen Geothermal Indonesia formed a joint venture with PT DSSR Daya Mas Sakti, a unit of Indonesian firm PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa Tbk, to develop 440 megawatts (MW) of geothermal resources across six fields in West Java, Flores, Jambi, West Sumatra, and Central Sulawesi.

Indonesia holds about 40 percent of the world’s geothermal resources, equivalent to 24 gigawatts, though only 10 percent has been developed.

Locally, EDC operates nearly 1,400 MW of renewable energy, making up 17 percent of the country’s total.

Its geothermal capacity of over 1,000 MW accounts for 56 percent of the national total, placing the country as the world’s third-largest geothermal producer.