Govt allocates Rp 9 trillion for geothermal development

The government will allocate up to Rp 9 trillion in investment funds from the state budget during the period between 2011 and 2016 for the development of geothermal projects in the country, Investor Daily reported on Thursday.

The funds which will be disbursed through the government investment agency (PIP) will be used to expand the generation capacity of the geothermal power plants.

PIP chairman, Soritaon Siregar said in Jakarta on Wednesday that with the Rp 9 trillion funds, the government expects to increase the capacity of geothermal power plants to 4,840 megawatt.

?Up to 2016, PIP will receive Rp 9 trillion for geothermal development from the state budgets,? he said. However, he said that for the period between 2017 and 2020, PIP would no longer receive funds from the state budget, but it is expected to be able to use gains from the earlier Rp 9 trillion investment.

Soritaon said that as of December 2012, the funds allocated for geothermal development has reached Rp 2 trillion. About Rp 1.13 trillion of the fund were taken from the 2011 state budget allocation and the other Rp 876.5 billion from the 2012 state budget allocation. This year, PIP receives Rp 1.13 trillion from the 2013 state budget. (*)