INDONESIA PUTS HALF-A-BIL IN THE GEOTHERMAL HUNT

ADB to channel $500m loan to build geothermal power plants
Rangga D. Fadillah, March 3, 2011 (The Jakarta Post)

"Indonesia will receive a US$500 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to set up three geothermal power plants with a total capacity of 165 megawatts…[T]he power plants would be constructed in Sungaipenuh in Jambi, Karaha, in West Java, and Mataloko in East Nusa Tenggara [and construction will be in 2012]…

"…Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), a subsidiary of state oil and gas firm Pertamina, would handle upstream operations at the Sungaipenuh Power Plant, while state electricity company PT PLN would handle downstream operations…[T]he $500 million loan could cover 80 percent of the funds required to build the power plants, the remaining 20 percent would come from PLN’s budget…"

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"…[In] Sungaipenuh, the company actually planned to build two power plants with a total capacity of 25 megawatts respectively, but since the prepared location for one of those plants was located in a conservation area…[it] decided to build one [5 megawatt capacity] plant first…

"To conduct the feasibility studies in the three areas, PLN had received a grant from ADB totaling $1.5 million…[T]he three power plants were part of the second phase of the 10,000-megawatt fast-track program [with the Mataloko Power Plant scheduled to operate in 2013, Karaha in 2014 and Sungaipenuh in 2015]…"

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"The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in late February issued a ministerial decree ordering PLN to buy power from geothermal producers at a ceiling price of 9.7 cents per kilowatt-hour…The decree will….pave the way for the resumption of 15 geothermal projects that have long been delayed due to selling price uncertainties…part of the second phase of the 10,000-megawatt fast-track program.

"In an effort to boost investment in geothermal projects, the ministry…set aside Rp 350 billion to compensate for any failures in geothermal exploration…[and] affirmed its commitment to boost the utilization of alternative and renewable energies, including geothermal, to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil-based energy…[T]he utilization of alternative and renewable energy in Indonesia [now] only represents 5 percent of the country’s total energy consumption."