Indonesian government optimistic on seeing 140 MW additional geothermal capacity in 2020

Sorik Marapi project site, Indonesia (source: KS Orka)

As reported by Kontan in Indonesia, the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is optimistic on the addition of 140 MW of geothermal power generation capacity in Indonesia in 2020.

This can be achieved with the expected additions of 90 MW of an unspecified plant, 45 MW of Sorik Marapi Unit 2 and 5 MW of Sokoria Unit 1.

In a comment, Ida Nuryatin Finahari, Director of Geothermal Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirms that the projects are currently being developed normally under the circumstances and says that she believes they can be completed on time in 2020. There have been initially problems with delivery of equipment to the site of the projects.

Indonesia still remains its ambitious target of 8,007 MW of geothermal power generation capacity in 2030 with a current installed capacity of 2,130 MW.

As we previously reported, the government now intends to explore and drill in 20 geothermal areas in order to derisk and encourage development. The exploration activities will be carried out by the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources which will be held this year until 2024.

There is a potential of 683 MW from 20 geothermal areas that the government wants to explore. The potential is spread across the island of Java as much as 365 MW, Bali and Nusa Tenggara at 110 MW, Sulawesi at 40 MW, and Kalimantan at 13 MW. “So far the constraints in geothermal development are social or community issues, as well as the unavailability of electricity network infrastructure,” said Ida.

Still waiting for the issuance of a Presidential Decree on the purchase of electricity from new and renewable energy (EBT) and its implementation, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will only conduct an auction for the Geothermal Working Area (WKP) in 2022.

Through this Presidential Decree, the government will provide a number of incentives for the development of EBT, including those sourced from geothermal energy. One of them is data acquisition through exploration drilling conducted by the government. That way, the risk of exploration can be reduced considering that the developer already has an overview of the potential resources in the WKP being offered.

Previously, Kontan had reported that the Draft Perpres EBT contained a plan to use a cost reimbursement scheme in geothermal development, no further details on the status of the regulations under work have been released.

Source: Kontan