INDONESIA PREPS WORLD’S BIGGEST GEOTHERMAL PLANT

Indonesia to start work on world's biggest geothermal plant in June

Fathiyah Dahrul and Fergus Jensen with Clarence Fernandez, May 28, 2014 (Reuters)

“Indonesia will begin construction next month of its long-delayed $1.6-billion Sarulla project, the world's biggest geothermal power plant…Southeast Asia's largest economy, home to the world's largest geothermal resources, is racing to meet power demand growth of more than 7 percent a year, with plans to add 60 gigawatts of capacity to its existing [fossil-fuel dominated] grid by 2022…But the sector has struggled to attract investment because of complex regulations and difficulties securing project finance…

“…A government plan to derive 12 percent of the country's energy mix from geothermal power by 2025 seems unrealistic…The [330 megawatt Sarulla] project was originally initiated in 1990 but ground to a halt during the Asian financial crisis in 1997. Its first phase is expected to begin operation in 2016, with the next two phases to follow within 18 months of the first phase…[This first geothermal financing since 1997, which involved 8 foreign banks and 4 private companies,] has been heralded as a breakthrough for Indonesia's largely undeveloped 29 gigawatts of geothermal potential…” click here for more

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