Indonesia expects to see a geothermal power generation capacity increase of 95 MW by the end of 2018, with the addition of the 55 MW Lumut Balai Unit 1 by Pertamina Geothermal Energy and the 40 MW Sorik Marapi geothermal power plant.

The installed capacity of the geothermal power generation capacity in Indonesia is expected to increase by 95 MW until the end of this year. This addition comes from two projects that will begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Geothermal Director of the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) Directorate of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ida Nuryatin Finahari said that until last September, installed capacity of PLTP in Indonesia was recorded at 1,948.5 MW. This installed capacity will increase until the end of this year.

“The plan is that there will be an additional 95 MW in December,” he said in his short message to Indonesian publication Investor Daily last week.

This additional capacity is said to come from two geothermal projects. First, the geothermal power plant of Lumut Balai Unit 1 with a capacity of 55 MW which has been developed by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energi. Secondly, the 40 MW Sorik Marapi geothermal power plant which has been developed by PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power. So, at the end of the year, the national geothermal power generation capacity will be 2,043.5 MW.

Previously, PGE President Director Ali Mundakir said that the commissioning of PLTP Lumut Balai 1 was scheduled to take place in October. “Comissioning requires syncronisation with PLN. Now we expect the date of commercial operation (COD) to be in December 2018, ” he said.

Currently, he continued, PGE’s geothermal installed capacity has reached 617 MW. With the addition of Lumut Balai Unit 1, the installed capacity of the company will increase to 672 MW by the end of this year.

With a capacity of 2,043.5 MW, Indonesia will continue to be ranked above Philippines in the global ranking of geothermal countries. The Philippines have today a geothermal power generation capacity of 1,870 MW. But more capacity additions are expected, with the roadmap of the ESDM Ministry, the installed capacity of geothermal power plants is targeted to reach 3,559.5 MW in 2021. This target is could put Indonesia above the United States, which – as of today – has an installed capacity of 3,450 MW or the largest in the world. This is assuming that the United States does not increase the capacity of its geothermal power plants.

The capacity of geothermal power plants will continue to be increased to reach 7,200 MW by 2025. This is to achieve the target of the 2025 energy mix where the portion of new renewable energy has been set at 23%. Additional new geothermal capacity will be significant after 2019 because the development takes around seven years.

According to Ida, the government has just submitted a letter of preliminary and exploration survey (PSPE) assignment to six companies and assignment of three geothermal concessions for working areas to PLN.

PSPE’s assignment was given to PT Star Energy for the Gunung Hamiding Block and Suoh Sekincau Selatan, PT Hitay Energy for Tanjungsakti and Geureudong, PT EDC Indonesia for Graho Nyabu, PT Optimas Nusantara Energi for Simbolon Samosir, PT Sumbawa Timur Mining for Hu’u Daha, and PT Ormat Geothermal Indonesia for Klabat Wineru.

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