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PT NewQuest Geotechnology celebrates 10th year anniversary with geothermal technology talkshow

PT NewQuest Geotechnology celebrates 10th year anniversary with geothermal technology talkshow Jakarta, Indonesia (source: flickr/ yohanes budiyanto, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga 1 Nov 2021

The 10th year anniversary event of NewQuest celebrated the company's contributions to the geothermal sector in Indonesia.

Indonesia-based PT NewQuest Geotechnology (NQ) celebrated their 10th year anniversary on 23 October 2021 with the event called “NQ 10 Years Anniversary – Ten Years of Contributions.” As part of the anniversary program, the agenda included holding an NQ Special Talkshow entitled “Geothermal Technology Innovations: A Perspective from the Past, Present, and Future.”

Challenges in geothermal development in Indonesia

During the event, Director of Geothermal, Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (NREEC) Harris Yahya once again mentioned the huge potential geothermal capacity of Indonesia and how only about 9% of this potential has been developed. However, the Indonesian government now seems more focused to develop geothermal with a target installed capacity of 9.3 GW by 2035.

President of the Indonesia Geothermal Association (INAGA) Prijandaru Effendi also mentioned that Indonesia has only had a slow rate of geothermal capacity growth of 70 MW per year since the first Geothermal Power Plant (GPP) was put up back in 1983. Prijandaru went on to explain that there has been a disparity between the electricity price expected by developers and the buying price of PT PLN as the off-taker. This problem becomes emphasized in smaller geothermal power plants.

Harris highlighted how risk is a major deterrent to geothermal development. According to NREEC data, the success ratio of drilling in geothermal is only between 33% to 67% with average output per well of 4 to 6 MW. To make geothermal development more viable, there is a continued need for more accurate and reliable methods in geothermal exploration.

Echoing this sentiment, Prijandaru mentioned that technological breakthroughs will be needed for geothermal power to be offered at a competitive price.

The work of NewQuest Geotechnology

It is at this front that NewQuest Geotechnology has contributed greatly over the last ten years. The contributions of NQ in Indonesia’s geothermal sector include exploration services, human resource development through the NQ Academy, and research works to improve the drilling success ratio.

NQ Founder Dr. Yunus Daud expressed his gratitude to all those who have supported them so far through their first ten years. In his speech, he also invited all geothermal stakeholders to work and manage geothermal by using proper technology and methodology, so that geothermal energy can be maintained as renewable, sustainable and environmentally friendly, and can be inherited to the generation of our children and grandchildren.

Dr. Yunus concluded his speech by proposing three measures that help improve geothermal development and management:

  • Research collaboration between government, industry and universities
  • The development, management, and utilization of geothermal databases
  • Full effort and prudence in carrying out “the government drilling”

At the end of the event, NQ launched the “GeoSlicer – X.” This is a Python-based software that can help visualize subsurface conditions using geoscience and engineering data.

About PT NewQuest Geotechnology
NewQuest Geotechnology (NQ) is a geothermal services company that has been contributing to the development of geothermal energy for 10 years. Since its establishment in 2011, NQ has been actively involved in the development of more than 50 geothermal areas in Indonesia and Malaysia with a total resource discovery of more than 3 GW. In September 2020, NQ received an award from the Indonesian Geologist Association (IAGI) as The Best Geothermal Exploration Service Company in assisting geothermal exploration discoveries, technology development, and human resource development.

Source: NewQuest Technology press release