Bali Energy asked to halt Bedugul geothermal project

Green activists and a number of non-governmental organizations have asked Bali Energy Limited (BEL) to halt geothermal exploration activities in the Batukaru forest conservation area in Bedugul, Bali until the company receives an approval from the provincial authority, Kompas reported on Thursday.

The call was made during a meeting between the NGOs and local authorities with officials representing BEL and its partners including Pertamina and PLN in Denpasar on Wednesday.

Made Mangku, the head of SK PPLH, one of the NGOs, said during the meeting that BEL should first complete all the necessary licensing process and its environmental impact analyses (AMDAL) before being engaged in exploration activities.

BEL, in cooperation with state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and state-owned electricity firm PLN, is developing a geothermal power project in Bedugul, Bali. The project, more popularly called Bedugul geothermal project, was firstly begun in 1996 but its operator California Energy suspended the project following the financial crisis, which hit Indonesia in late 1997.

A senior official of BEL said that the company, which took over the geothermal power project from California Energy, was still testing a number of geothermal wells left behind by the American company.

He said that BEL which received the government's approval to resume the project in 2003, was still processing all the necessary licenses and its AMDAL for the geothermal power plant. (*)