Indonesia:

Indonesia Seeks Investment to Triple Geothermal Energy Within Five Years (The Jakarta Post)

(Courtesy CIA.gov)

After hydro power, geothermal is slated to make the biggest contribution in the renewable energy expansion plan for Indonesia. Under the plan, geothermal power plants’ installed capacity is projected to increase nearly three-fold by 2019, to 4,926.5 MW from the current output of 1,403.5 MW, according to figures from the renewable energy directorate general.

Due to its geographic position atop the “Ring of Fire”, the country sits astride abundant geothermal resources. However, the government has struggled to grow the sector as projects have stalled due to conservation area issues.

Funding is also a challenge, as geothermal plants require high injections of capital and are high-risk, discouraging financial institutions from approving loans. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director general for renewable energy, Rida Mulyana has called on geothermal developers to redouble efforts and to dedicate time and resources to compiling data and statistics to bolster confidence.

“For instance, Supreme Energy initially did explorations on its own. [The company] got the data and power-selling agreement and then they got a funding deal with the ADB [Asian Development Bank],” Rida said.

Supreme Energy recently obtained $50 million from the ADB to fund exploration activities. In geothermal development, exploration is seen as high-risk, as it requires huge amounts of investment with no guarantee that the drilling site will provide enough steam for the development of a plant.

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