Indonesia expects 3 new plants to be operational in 2014
Francisco Rojas
13 Aug 2014
Indonesia’s government expects three new geothermal power plants with a combined capacity of 62 MW to be operational later this year. The plants are Patuha and Cibuni in West Java and Ulumbu in East Nusa Tenggara.
According to local news, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said on Monday that the development of nine power plant projects by state oil company Pertamina were now at various stages of development. Dahlan made the statement after a closed-door meeting with directors of Pertamina and state-owned electricity firm PT PLN.
“This shows very good progress because a number of the projects had been delayed for a long time due to various problems,” he said, adding that Pertamina and PLN were in discussions over the ceiling price for electricity generated from the geothermal power plants.
The nine geothermal power plant projects are Kamojang Unit 1 and Karaha Bodas in West Java, Ulubelu units 3 and 4 in Lampung, Lahendong units 5 and 6 and Kota Mobago in North Sulawesi, Lumutbalai units 1 and 2 and Lumutbalai units 3 and 4 in South Sumatra, Hulu Lais units 1 and 2 in Bengkulu and Sungai Penuh in Jambi.
The projects, carried out by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), a subsidiary of PT Pertamina, are estimated to cost US$2.29 billion. Pertamina previously stated that overall development of all the projects would take between five and eight years. “Ulubelu units 3 and 4 will be completed soon,” Pertamina upstream director Muhammad Husein said after the meeting. For more details on the development of Ulubelu as reported by ThinkGeoEnergy.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director general for new and renewable energy, Rida Mulyana, said previously that all nine geothermal power plant projects were expected to finish in 2025. Rida said that in this year alone, three geothermal power plants in Patuha and Cibuni in West Java, and Ulumbu in East Nusa Tenggara, with a total capacity of 62 MW would start operating, boosting the country’s total geothermal capacity to 1,405 MW by year-end.
As part of its new energy policy, the government is targeting up to 9,500 MW in electricity produced from geothermal power plants by 2025.
Source: The Jakarta Post Website
