Way Ratai, Indonesia geothermal block awarded to Pertamina-Chevron consortium
Coastal view, Lampung, Sumatra (source: flickr/ trugiaz, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga
22 Jun 2023
A consortium of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy and Chevron Geothermal has been awarded the Way Ratai geothermal block in Sumatra, Indonesia.
A consortium between PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGEO) and PT Jasa Daya Chevron (Chevron Geothermal) has been awarded the Way Ratai geothermal working area (WKP) in Lampung, Indonesia. The announcement of the auction winner was made on 19 June 2023 and was signed by Dadan Kusdiana, Director General of New, Renewable Energy. and Energy Conservation (EBTKE).
The Way Ratai WKP straddles the boundaries of the Pesawaran Regency, Tanggamus Regency, South Lampung Regency, and Bandar Lampung city in Sumatra. It had been originally awarded in 2015 to a consortium of PT Optima Nusantara Energi and Enel Green Power, with Enel holding a 90% stake. However, Enel withdrew from the project after frustrations with the inconsistency of power tariffs during negotiations with power utility PT PLN. The Way Ratai WKP was again put up for auction before the end of 2022.
The WKP has a reserve potential of 100 MWe, but the development plan only calls for a target capacity of 55 MWe.
The PGEO and Chevron Geothermal consortium had submitted an exploration commitment amount of US$28.85 million or around Rp431.01 billion. PT Ormat Geothermal Indonesia also made a bid for the Way Ratai WKP.
Prior to PGEO’s announcement of making a bid for Way Ratai, the state-owned geothermal developer had already been exploring a partnership with Chevron. This cooperation was focused on developing downstream products from potential geothermal projects in Sumatra, including the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia. Chevron had previously sold their geothermal assets in Indonesia to Star Energy.
“For bidders who feel aggrieved, either individually or together with other participants, can submit a written objection to the results of the auction addressed to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources within a maximum of 5 working days after the date of this announcement,” Dadan addressed to the other bid participants.
Source: Business Update
