Riki Ibrahim, president director of PT Geo Dipa Energi
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| Riki Ibrahim, president director PT Geo Dipa Energi |
Geothermal energy has remained largely underdeveloped and underutilized in Indonesia, despite the many advantages it has to offer compared to currently widely used types of energy like oil, gas and coal.
Indonesia, however, needs to come up with fiscal incentives to turn these comparative advantages for geothermal into a significant contribution to the government’s plan to build by 2019 power plants to produce 35,000 megawatts of electricity.
Well-drilling exploration and development represent the biggest risks in this business. No financial institutions in Indonesia offer funding for geothermal exploration.
In countries like Iceland, Germany and many in East Africa aided by the World Bank and France, geothermal companies enjoy the support of an exploration insurance scheme. Other countries offer incentives for clean energy development.
Indonesia should follow these examples.