Geothermal plants with total capacity of 317 MW to start operation 2017

Several geothermal power plants with combined capacity of 317 MW will start commercial operation in 2017, said Director of Geothermal at the Directorate General of New and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Yunus Saefulhak said in a statement.

Yunus said that this year, a total of 215 MW of geothermal power plants are slated to start operation including the 55 MW Ulubelu (in July), 20 MW Lahendong, and 30 MW Karaha and 110 MW Sarulla unit 1 (in December).

He said that the government has assigned three state-owned firms including PT PLN, PT Pertamina, and PT Geodipa Energi to develop 1,200 MW geothermal power plants to help achieve the target to develop a total of 7,200 MW geothermal power plants by 2025.

So far, only nine geothermal power plants with combined capacity of 1,438.5 MW are operating in the country, despite its huge geothermal resources potential.

He said that two new government regulations to help attract new investment in the sector are currently being finalized including a regulation on production bonus for geothermal developers, which is expected to be submitted to President Joko Widodo on Monday for final approval.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak