<< To Frontpage

Preparation for Envent´s 50 MW Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte, Philippines Progressing Well

Exploration Progress Bodes Well for Iceland-backed Company

Manila, Philippines, November 7, 2008 - The surface exploration on the Biliran geothermal working area is making good progress, Envent Holding Philippines Incorporated announced today.

The surface exploration program is being performed by a group of sub-contractors, including Phoenix Geophysics of Canada and the Philippine geothermal consultancy Fedco. Under the program more than 200 electromagnetical measurements (“TEM” / “MT”), as well as a range of geochemical measurements, will be made on the working area with the purpose of estimating the location and extent of sub-surface steam. Exploration activities and data processing are expected to be complete in March 2009. The exploration program is essentially an extension of a surface exploration and exploration-drilling program the Philippine geothermal power company PNOC-EDC performed in 1982. If the exploration is successful, the substantial data available will form a solid basis for further development and construction of the power plant.

Envent is currently working on several geothermal projects in the Philippines and is committed to contributing to the Philippine government's target of an additional 1,200 MW of renewable energy by 2013. Envent’s key shareholders are Reykjavik Energy Invest and Geysir Green Energy, both global leaders in the renewable energy sector with a specific focus on geothermal energy. Both companies are based in Iceland where an impressive 100 percent of the power is derived from renewable sources (23 percent geothermal and 77 percent hydro).

The Biliran Geothermal Development Project is located on the island of Biliran in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. With a good connection to the national power grid, Biliran lies just a few kilometers north of the island of Leyte. One of the smallest provinces in Philippines, Biliran is 555km2, with a population of 140,000. Its capital is Naval. The mountainous island is considered a compound volcano with a single historic eruption in 1939. It is estimated that Biliran has at least 100 MW of geothermal energy.

Envent's associate company Biliran Geothermal Incorporated will execute the upstream part of the project.

Comments:
Mr. Gudmundur F. Sigurjonsson, President and Chief Executive, Envent:

We are pleased with the good progress that the surface exploration program is making. Because of the drilling that PNOC-EDC did in 1982, the data that we will have available at the end of the current exploration program will be much more substantial than is typical in projects of this sort. This will reduce our development risk as well as make the project more attractive to co-developers.