Exploration being prepared for Bituang geothermal working area, North Sulawesi

Sulawesi landscape, Indonesia (source: flickr/ Theodor Benda, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 4 Dec 2020

The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) through the Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) has begun preparing for exploration in the Bituang geothermal working area (WKP), Tana Toraja, North Sulawesi.

Preparations began with outreach activities to the people of Bittuang, Tana Toraja, to provide understanding to the local community about the exploration activities that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will undertake in the area.

Head of the Sub-Directorate for Geothermal Business Services and Guidance, Edi Hindiarto, said that the Bituang WKP was one of the targets for the initial stage of drilling activities by the Government for the 2020-2024 period. “This is our effort so that the public can get complete information regarding the plan for exploration drilling activities by the Government in this area, so that their perception can be accurate regarding the objectives of the exploration drilling activity,” said Edi in a written statement on the website of the Directorate General of EBTKE, Friday (13 / 11).

Edi explained, WKP Bituang together with WKP Cisolok Cisukarame and WKP Nage are the initial stages of implementing the exploration drilling program by the Government which will start in 2021. The government’s geothermal exploration program is the Government’s effort to answer several challenges in geothermal development by targeting exploration activities in 20 WKP.

Through this program, said Edi, it is hoped that the success of geothermal development will increase significantly so that the drilling success ratio which initially ranges from 40% – 50% can reach a ratio of 70% – 80%.

The scope of which the government will undertake includes survey activities, civil construction, and exploration drilling. Exploration activities by the government include detailed surveys and exploration drilling consisting of small diameter wells (slim holes) and standard exploration wells.

“The milestone for the implementation of this program starts from 2020 to 2024. For 2020, the Government’s exploration drilling program focuses on socialization and coordination as well as licensing management which includes environmental permits, UKL-UPL, SIPA, location permits, and others. As the final stage in 2021, the activity will be in the form of exploration drilling using the slim hole method in 2 wells, “explained Edi.

Just so you know, Indonesia is one of the countries that has abundant geothermal energy sources. Indonesia’s geothermal potential reaches 23,965 MW spread over 351 potential points. Geothermal utilization consists of two types, namely direct utilization and indirect utilization.

The direct utilization of geothermal can be in the form of hot water baths, nature tourism and the utilization of geothermal energy for drying agricultural products, while the indirect use of geothermal is for generating electricity. Geothermal utilization stages for power generation include exploration, exploitation and utilization.

The exploration stage is the stage with the greatest risk of failure. With the implementation of exploration drilling by the government, it is hoped that it can increase the economy of geothermal business so that it can attract investment.

Source: Kontan