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Start of 140 MW with three new geothermal plants in Indonesia pushed to first half of 2021

Start of 140 MW with three new geothermal plants in Indonesia pushed to first half of 2021 Sorik Marapi geothermal power plant, North Sumatra/ Indonesia (source: EBTKE)
Alexander Richter 11 Nov 2020

Effected by the pandemic, geothermal development in Indonesia sees some delay with the addition. of three new plants scheduled for 2020 now being pushed to the first half of 2021. The three plants, Rantau Dedap, Sorik Marapi Unit 2 and Sokoria Unit 1 have a combined capacity of 140 MW.

Indonesia, like other countries, has seen covid-19 effect its economy and infrastructure development, and that includes geothermal project development in Indonesia. As reported locally, the addition of geothermal power generation capacity from geothermal planned for this year has missed the target. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) initially targeted an additional 140 MW of geothermal power generation capacity from three projects to reach commercial operation.

However, the Director of Geothermal Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ida Nuryatin Finahari, said that the target had been missed, due to the covid-19 pandemic. “It is very unfortunate that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the plans for 3 PLTP (geothermal) projects that were previously targeted for COD in 2020 amounting to 140 MW must be delayed to 2021,” she told national news outlet Kontan.co.id.

The three PLTPs that were initially targeted to increase geothermal electricity capacity this year are the Rantau Dedap PLTP by 90 MW, PLTP Sorik Marapi Unit 2 with a capacity of 45 MW and PLTP Sokoria unit 1 with a capacity of 5 MW.

According to Ida, the Covid-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the process of mobilizing the components of PLTP equipment and labor. Thus, productivity and work progress in the field are reduced. He said, the government together with business entities and PT PLN (Persero) are currently working on resolving obstacles that occur in the field.

“The three PLTP projects are (now) targeted to operate in the first semester of 2021,” she added.

In parallel, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is currently preparing exploration (government drilling) in 20 geothermal prospect areas. Preparation and exploration will be held from 2020 to 2024.

Still said Ida, this year the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is compiling all planning documents, governance and preparation procedures for several works auction, preparation of contract documents, as well as outreach / coordination to local governments and communities around the location.

In 2021, it is targeted that parallel exploration drilling (slim hole) will be carried out in 3 areas, namely the Cisolok-Cisukarame WKP (West Java), Bittuang WKP (South Sulawesi), and Nage WKP (NTT).

Furthermore, according to the direction of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, the bidding or auction activities for new Geothermal Working Areas (WKPs) will be carried out after the areas have been carried out by the Government for exploration activities.

Thus, the bidding or auction for the new WKP is planned to resume in early 2023 after an area has been completed with 3 exploration wells, with 2 slim holes and 1 standard hole.

“This is aimed at reducing development risks and lowering the economic price of PLTP projects to make them more affordable,” explained Ida.

Investments in the geothermal sector are expected to be boosted by the existence of tariff arrangements that are claimed to be more competitive, as well as a number of incentives to attract investors. This will be stated in the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on the price of renewable energy electricity, which has now been harmonized at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

The Perpres is said to be issued soon. “The harmonization phase by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has been completed and the next step is now at the stage of internal finalization of the draft Perpres by the Government,” concluded Ida.

Source: Kontan