Government plans geothermal tender in July

Petromindo|Lucky

The government is expected to hold tender for five geothermal working areas in July of this year after a new regulation on tender mechanism has been completed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

Director General of Renewable Energy at the ministry Rida Mulyana said on Wednesday that the new ministerial regulation is currently being finalized at the ministry?s legal bureau. He said that the new regulation is required for the tender mechanism to be adjusted with the new ministerial regulation on the utilization of geothermal.

Meanwhile, Director of Geothermal Yunus Saefulhak said that under the new regulation, the objective of the tender will not be on the price of electricity from geothermal project but on work program and exploration commitment of the developers. ?The bid will not be on the electricity price, but on the work program and exploration commitment,? he said.

He said that there will be five geothermal working areas (WKPs) to be offered to investors via tender with combined power generation capacity of 330 MW. The five WKPs are Muara Bulung, in Southeast Sulawesi Province with potential generating capacity of 20 MW; Oka Iliange, in West Nusa Tenggara (20 MW); Jailolo, in Maluku Utara (60 MW); Simbolon Samosir, North Sumatra (220 MW); and Sirung, Alor, in East Nusa Tenggara (10 MW). (*)