Indonesia provides technical guidance to encourage geothermal direct use

Hot spring resort in Lovina in Bali, Indonesia (source: Aleksandr Zykov / flickr, Creative Commons)

The Directorate of Geothermal of Indonesia under the Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) recently conducted a Technical Guidance (Bimbingan Teknis) session for business permits related to geothermal direct use applications. This aims to encourage geothermal direct use and support the country’s energy transition goals.

Director for Geothermal Harris Yahya said that the geothermal potential in Indonesia can be as high as 23.36 GW. A majority of this will be used indirectly for power generation. With a relatively smaller capacity for direct use, the resources must be managed and optimized properly for maximum utilization.

The use of heat from surface geothermal manifestations, from hot water or steam from drilled wells, or from downstream heat of power generation facilities are all considered examples of geothermal direct use.

Harris explained that Law No. 21 of 2014 governs the use of geothermal energy, both for direct and indirect utilization. More specifically for direct use, Law No. 11 of 2020 is the legal basis for Job Creation and Government Regulation No. 5 of 2021 is the basis for the Implementation of Risk-Based Business Permits.

Moreover, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) Regulation No. 5 of 2021 defines the Geothermal Exploitation Business Licensing Standards. This determines the norms, standards, procedures, and criteria (NSPK). The items under this regulation include:

• Requirements for an Operation Worthy Certificate as part of the direct utilization permit
• Standard Classification of Indonesian Business Fields (KBLI)
• Procedures and application process for obtaining a Certificate of Proper Operation for Direct Utilization
• Technical standards for the extraction of geothermal heat
• Development and supervision activities

Harris hopes that through technical guidance sessions, applications for geothermal direct use permits can be processed faster with reference to current regulations. He also emphasized the importance of the efforts of all parties involved in geothermal direct use in helping the Government reach its energy transition target.

“Currently, Indonesia is working towards an energy transition with a net zero emission target. So, this is where we need to encourage the use of new and renewable energy, not only for power generation but also for direct use,” concluded Harris.

Source: EBTKE