Pertamina seeks partners to develop geothermal fields

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina is seeking partners to develop its geothermal fields.

Company upstream director Sukusen Soemarinda said on Monday Pertamina still holds rights to develop 15 geothermal working areas, after relinquishing 18 of the 33 working areas granted by the government to the company in 1980s.

Several investors have voiced interest to develop working areas now being held by the company, according to Sukusen.

?Foreign investors that are interested include Chevron and Star Energy,? Sukusen said. Chevron now operates several geothermal power plants in Drajat and Salak Mountain in West Java, while Star Energy has discovered geothermal resources and plans to build a power plant in Wayang Windu, also in West Java.

Areas that Pertamina has prioritized to develop include Lumut Balai, Ulu Belu, South Lahendong and Kotamobagu.

The government is preparing measures to develop the country?s geothermal resources into electricity as part of the efforts to increase power supply using non-oil and renewable resources.

The government?s data say Indonesia has geothermal resources that are capable of producing a total of 27 Gigawatt. However, most of the resources remain untapped as the total capacity of the country?s geothermal power plants reach less than 800 MW.

The government has promised to provide incentives for investors to develop the country the country?s geothermal resources and will issue in the near future a governmental regulation and ministerial decree that will set attractive price for power supplies form geothermal power plants.

Price is among the factors that discourage investors from entering the country's geothermal sector. Today, state electricity firm PT PLN that monopolizes the sale of power in the country is only willing to pay less than 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for power supplied from any power plants, including geothermal power plants.

Meanwhile, some investors consider that geothermal business will only become attractive if PLN is willing to pay about 7 cents per kwh for their power. (Godang)