KS Orka completes capacity testing of Sokoria Unit 2, Indonesia

Drilling rig on site of Sokoria geothermal project, Indonesia (source: KS Orka)

KS Orka Renewables Pte. Ltd. (KS ORKA), fully owned subsidiary of the Kaishan Group, has completed the 72-hour Unit Rated Capacity (URC) testing of the 3-MW Sokoria Geothermal Power Plant Project Unit 2. With this development, the facility is one step closer to being awarded the Operation Eligibility Certificate and achieving a Commercial Operation Date (COD).

The URC test was officially completed on 15 July 2023. The test was conducted under the supervision of the PLN Certification Center and PLN UPK Flores. The Sokoria geothermal power plant is currently producing 8 MW of power in total to the East Nusa Tenggara power grid.

The Sokoria Geothermal Power Plant is located in the Ende Regency, in the islands of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Unit 1 of the geothermal power plant, which has a 5-MW capacity, officially started commercial operations on 28 March 2022. Development in Sokoria was started in 2010 by PT Bakrie Power Corp before the project was acquired by KS Orka in 2016.

KS Orka was also recently in the news after signing a Memorandum of Cooperation with PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PT PGE) to utilize the waste heat and tail water from PGE’s existing geothermal power plants for further power generation. A key component of this agreement is the steam screw expander technology of Kaishan which can generate power output from low-quality heat sources.

The progression of the Sokoria geothermal power project is in line with KS Orka’s strategy of gradual development, as is also apparent in Sorik Marapi. Riza Pasikki, COO and CTO of KS Orka, said that this model allows the developer to minimize deployment time and reduce initial investment. There are plans of expanding the Sokoria project to a 30-MW capacity. Again, the modular technology of Kaishan is instrumental in executing this development model.

Source: KS Orka via LinkedIn and Asian Power