Thursday, November 7, 2013

Indonesia:

Red Tape Holding Geothermal Back in Race to Replace Coal (Jakarta Globe)

The government needs to streamline regulations and provide financial incentives for investors to boost development of geothermal energy, an industry expert has said.

“Government is the single prime mover to accelerate geothermal progress,” said deputy chairman of the Indonesia Geothermal Association Sanusi Satar to reporters on Wednesday.

Sanusi noted that the government, through state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara, is the single largest purchaser of electricity generated by private companies in the country, and has the power to set purchase price.

“The problem is that there is a six-to-seven year period between the tender and start of geothermal operations. A lot can happen within that period, except our cost going down,” he said.

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