Jakarta—Despite Indonesia’s abundance of natural resources, especially its natural gas reserves, which are the second largest in the world, ironically, the contribution of Indonesia’s Geothermal Power Plants (PLTP) is only about 3 per cent of the total installed power generation capacity.
The Indonesian Geothermal Association (API) Chairman, Julfi Hadi, expressed this concern at an Energy Corner event in early April. Of Indonesia’s 24 gigawatts (GW) of geothermal potential, only around 2.4 GW is currently being utilized. This shows that geothermal energy in the country is still not optimal.
“The utilization of our geothermal energy is still very slow. Even in the last four years, it has only increased by around 300 MW, meaning it is very slow. We have been in the geothermal field for 40 years,” he said.
According to him, the potential utilization of natural gas can reach 32 per cent if it is fully maximized. However, Indonesia should be careful because several other countries, such as Kenya and Turkey, are also getting serious about developing geothermal energy as a clean energy source.
In Kenya, for example, the government provides various incentives to support clean energy development, including a feed-in tariff policy that ensures revenue for new renewable energy producers. While in Turkey, there is an investment incentive program for eligible projects.
Hadi hopes that the Indonesian government can provide greater support to geothermal energy developers so that the development of this energy source becomes more attractive to investors. Several factors, such as regulations that do not yet support the development of commercial projects, are the main obstacles that must be overcome immediately.
With joint efforts between the government and geothermal energy developers, it is hoped that the development of geothermal power plants in Indonesia can be accelerated so that the country can more efficiently use its geothermal potential. (Hartatik)