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Supreme Energy to expect to start work on Muara Laboh project 2015

Supreme Energy to expect to start work on Muara Laboh project 2015 Muara, Lake Toba, Tapanuli Utara, North Sumatra, Indonesia (source: flickr/ Max Grabert, creative commons)
Francisco Rojas 10 Nov 2014

Indonesia's PT Supreme Energy expects to commence the first stage of construction of its 220 MW Muara Laboh project in West Sumatra as early as next year.

Local news from Indonesia detail that “geothermal power plant developer PT Supreme Energy expects to commence the first stage of construction of its 220 megawatt (MW) Muara Laboh project in West Sumatra as early as next year while working on land-related issues in two other phases of development.”

The same source details that “Supreme Energy president director Triharyo Indrawan Soesilo said the company expected to work on the first stage of development of 70 MW in the second quarter of next year. “The first stage is expected to finish 30 months after May, June or July of next year,” he added. The company is currently negotiating and waiting to sign an agreement on electricity price from the geothermal plant with state electricity firm PT PLN.”

Supreme Energy obtained approval from the government in 2008 to work on a pre-feasibility study on the potential of geothermal power plant development in Muara Laboh, which is located in South Solok Regency in West Sumatra. The concession covers about 62,300 hectares of land and is bordered by Kerinci Seblat National Park, according to the company’s website says Jakarta Post

It is also detailed in the piece that Supreme Energy — is “also working on geothermal projects Rantau Dedap and Rajabasa in South Sumatra and Lampung, respectively — and began exploration works in the area in 2010. The company submitted a report on its explorations of six wells in September this year. Triharyo said his company had disbursed around US$130 million for the exploration works.”

“We already have the figure for geothermal reserves and it is enough for us to seek funding from banks,” Triharyo said.

He added that the company would continue developing the second and third phase of the project after the first stage was completed.

“We have limitations with the second and third phases, in which we need to work in the Kerinci Seblat National Park area. The new Geothermal Law permits us to enter the national park, so further talks need to take place,” Triharyo said.

The country has vast reserves of geothermal energy waiting to be tapped, but due to restrictive legislation, they could not be tapped until recently.

Another issues looming in the near future is the spike in demand for electricity that the country is experiencing, coupled with rising fossil fuel costs, the country needs to expand and embrace renewable energy, specially, geothermal.

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Source: Jakarta Post