ThinkGeoEnergy – Geothermal Energy News

Government to re-bid Mount Lawu geothermal working area, Indonesia

The government is planning to re-tender the geothermal working area of Mount Gunung Lawu in Karanganyar in Indonesia – after Pertamina Geothermal Energy has not commenced work on the project and returned the area to the government.

Reported earlier this month, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is expected to re-bid the geothermal exploration project on Mount Lawu, Karanganyar in Indonesia.

Despite the opposition of the local community, the project is expected to go ahead.

This was revealed by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ignasius Jonan after giving a public lecture to the students at the University of Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS), earlier this month.

The public lecture with the theme of Independence and National Energy Sustainability was attended by UMS Rector Sofyan Anif and hundreds of students and lecturers. According to Jonan, the geothermal development project at Gunung Lawu needs to be set up for tender again, as the company that previously won the the bid has not been able to commence work on the project.

“The company either because of financial factors or lack of technical ability has stopped and returned [the working area] to the government,” he said.

For that, continued Jonan, the government has two options, the re-tendering [of the working area] or let the project be developed by PT PLN. Answering questions on the local opposition of the community in Karanganyar over the planned geothermal project development in Mount Lawu, Jonan said more efforts need to be made to gain local support.

“Be socialized to the community about the impacts and benefits of geothermal development,” he said.

As reported, the tender for the geothermal exploration project in Gunung Lawu was won by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE). Originally, the project’s work began in 2017. The Working Area of Mount Lawu has an estimated power generation capacity potential of  165 MW.

The project has been seen critical by the local population because of fears for the water supply, religious and Gunung Lawu culture.
Source: Solopos

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