Funding by NOPEF helping Icelandic engineering firm footings in Indonesia
Silica scaling mitigation plant, Dieng, Indonesia (source: Mannvit)
Alexander Richter
7 Jul 2022
With funding by the Nordic Project Fund (Nopef) Icelandic engineering group Mannvit has been able to build up a row of business opportunities on geothermal in Indonesia.
Under funding by the Nordic Project Fund (Nopef), Icelandic engineering company Mannvit has worked on a study on the Indonesian market having chalked up a string of successes, so a case study by Nopef on its website.
“We have seen interest in geothermal power growing around the world,” confirms Kristín Steinunnardóttir, mechanical engineer at Mannvit. “We approached Nopef to study the market opportunities and geothermal potential in Indonesia.”
Indonesia is one of the countries on the dramatically named Ring of Fire. These areas around the Pacific Ocean have high geologic activity which can help make geothermal power generation easier. Other countries on the Ring such as the Philippines, New Zealand and the United States have already invested in significant amounts of geothermal electric capacity.
Indonesia was seen as a perfect place to reap the benefits of Mannvit’s geothermal expertise, but first the company had to explore the market.
Business and environment benefits go hand-in-hand
Mannvit traces their roots back to the early 1960s as an engineering consulting firm. Over the decades they have amassed considerable skills in geothermal energy. They received funding from Nopef, a financial instrument managed by Nefco, the Nordic Green Bank, for a feasibility study to see if they could take those skills to Indonesia.
“We look for internationally competitive Nordic solutions which are beneficial for the environment,” explains Mikael Reims, Vice President, Origination at Nefco. “Iceland is a global leader on geothermal, and Mannvit has over five decades of experience in this field so this was a good fit.”
Mannvit’s goal was to research the Indonesian market and network with potential partners. If that went well, they wanted to establish a subsidiary, begin collaborations and write a business plan.
“Many Nordic growth companies have proven solutions but limited resources to scale up internationally,” Reims says. “Our support can help them save time and effort in finding which markets to avoid and which to pursue. Often they just need that initial push to get a local demo or pilot project, and then with that reference they can get more clients.”
Impressive projects
Mannvit concluded their internationalisation feasibility study in May 2020 and decided to enter the market. Now, two short years later, they have already racked up a string of impressive projects. They have had challenges finding the right partner and getting used to the Indonesian way of working, but their expansion is going well. Mannvit are improving the Icelandic and Indonesian economies by providing clean energy, which is a success by almost any measure.
“Funding from Nopef helped us quite a lot and it was a very good experience,” Kristín says. “We now have an office in Jakarta with a full-time employee and we are already becoming known in Indonesia.”
Mannvit has so far worked on a pilot plant for scaling mitigation in Dieng for PT Geo Dipa and for Pertamina Geothermal on technical due diligence for all PGE geothermal power plants and a feasibility study and owners engineering for Medco Power. Furthermore the company has worked on technical due diligence for a 140MW geothermal power plant in Sorik Marapi.
Source: NOEPF
