MANILA, Philippines - Strong earnings from power plant operations boosted the net income of Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) by 113.7% in the first 6 months of the year.

The country's largest producer of geothermal energy earned P5.74 billion in the first half of 2010, more than double the P2.69 billion it booked in the same period last year.

Core net income likewise increased by 89.2% to P4.85 billion from P2.57 billion.

EDC said that its subsidiary, First Gen Hydro Power Corp., operator of the 122.5-megawatt Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric plants, contributed P1.06 billion to the total net income for the first semester.

Income from the company's 106-MW Mindanao geothermal plants also improved to P436.4 million from P343.2 million, with the elimination of build-operate-transfer fees after the plants' turnover to EDC in June 2009.

These offset the weak performance of unit Green Core Geothermal Inc., operator of the 305-MW Tongonan 1 and Palinpinon power plants, which reported a net loss of P260 million.

“The successful acquisition of NPC owned geothermal power plants is an integral component of our forward integration growth strategy. Despite investor concerns on the immediate impact of loss steam revenues for the BacMan acquisition, EDC’s purchase of the power plant remains to be value-enhancing for the company,” EDC President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Tantoco said.

EDC submitted the highest bid for the 150-MW Bacon-Manito (BacMan) geothermal plants last April. It is rehabilitating the said plants to put these back in full operation within 18 to 24 months.

To date, EDC remains the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, accounting for 62% of the total installed capacity.