Govt to partially finance geothermal steam exploration
Wednesday, September 3 2003 - 03:51 AM WIB
The government has decided to partly finance exploration projects in the geothermal sector in order to reduce power prices supplied by geothermal power producers, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported Wednesday.
Currently, private investors are obliged to fully finance their geothermal steam exploration activities, and this has forced them to sell their electricity at prices much higher than the price of power generated by plants using other kinds of fuel, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro told the paper after a meeting with a parliamentary commission on Tuesday.
The government however had yet to decide its portion of exploration funds, Purnomo said.
The minister said the government had formed a 27-member team to study the matter. Geology and mineral resources director general chairs the team. (*)