Ministry targets investment in renewables sector to rise by 81.2% in 2018
Thursday, December 28 2017 - 01:23 AM WIB
The Directorate General of New and Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has set a target for investment in the country?s renewables sector to increase by 81.2 percent to Rp 32 trillion next year from the estimated Rp 17.66 trillion for 2017.
Director General of New and Renewable Energy, Rida Mulyana said that the higher investment next year will be driven by the development of new renewable projects.
?We?re optimistic that investment will increase by 81.2 percent next year because there are several (renewable) power plants to be developed,? he told reporters on Wednesday.
He said that the higher investment target will be primarily contributed by the geothermal sector, where at least 30 drilling programs are expected to be realized in 2018. As investment in one well is estimated at US$7 million, total investment in geothermal drilling alone will reach $210 million.
Director of Geothermal at the directorate, Yunus Saifulhak said that aside from geothermal drilling, new investment will come from the construction of a number of geothermal power plant (PLTPs) projects in 2018 including PLTP Sarulla Unit 3, PLTP Muara Laboh, PLTP Sorik Merapi, PLTP Lumut Balai, and PLTP Hulu Lais. ?Total investment in geothermal sector next year is projected at Rp 16.33 trillion,? he said.
Rida said that aside from PLTP, there are a number of other planned geothermal projects to start development next year including a 200 MW floating solar power plant atop the Cirata Dam in Purwakarta, West Java Province, with estimated investment of around $180 million.
Other projects are 70 MW PLTB Tanah Laut wind farm project with estimated investment of $153 million, PLTS Bali 1 solar power plant projects in Bali, each with capacity of 50 MW and investment of $91.6 million, and the PLTB Sidrap phase 2 project, which is still being discussed with state-owned electricity firm PT PLN in relation to operation schedule target.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak