Energy Development Corp., the largest Philippine geothermal company, may form a joint venture to fund as many as six South American projects being developed by Alterra Power Corp.

Under an agreement announced today, Energy Development would get a 70 percent stake in the venture if it provides $58.3 million to develop Alterra’s Mariposa project in Chile or $8 million for five Peruvian concessions, Anders Kruus, a spokesman for Vancouver-based Alterra, said in a phone interview.

Energy Development, based in Pasig, Philippines, will carry out due diligence and decide within six months whether to proceed with the deal, Alterra said in a statement. Energy Development, controlled by Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., was founded in 1976 as part of the Philippine National Oil Co., according to its website.

Geothermal power plants produce electricity by tapping underground pockets of steam or thermal fluid. Alterra has several early-stage geothermal projects in the southern volcanic belt of Peru and the Mariposa project has an “inferred resource estimate” of 320 megawatts of generating capacity, Kruus said.

Copyright 2012 Bloomberg

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