Forestry Ministry proposes Rp 6.5/Kwh fee for geothermal developers

The Ministry of Forestry has proposed an annual environmental services fee of Rp 6.5 per Kwh to be imposed on geothermal developers in the country for operating in forest conservation areas, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

Bambang Supriyanto, a director at the Ministry of Forestry, was quoted as saying that his office hopes the proposed environmental feel to be included in the revised geothermal law.

?We have held talks with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) regarding the fee,? he said. The government expects to be able to complete the ongoing revision of the geothermal law this month.

Director General of New and Renewable Energy at MEMR, however, said that the two ministries have not yet specifically discussed the proposed environmental fee to be imposed on geothermal developers, apparently disagreeing with the proposal seen to discourage badly needed investment in the sector.

In a bid to help lure more investment in the geothermal sector, the government has recently raised the purchasing tariff of geothermal electricity to US$0.115-0.296 from $0.10-0.185 per Kwh. (*)