JakartaPost-July 27
The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) could propel geothermal energy growth in Indonesia, experts say, but this hinges on the government’s ability to provide legal certainty, incentives and clear prospects for the renewable energy. Experts told the The Jakarta Post that the domestic geothermal industry was hedged in by high development costs on the one hand and uncertainty in electricity offtake pricing on the other, which clouded the economic prospects for undertaking local projects. Andri Prasetiyo, a researcher at Senik Centre Asia, told the Post on Monday that financing from a scheme like the JETP was essential in jump-starting local geothermal energy projects, which were developing at a painstakingly slow pace. Data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry shows that the total installed geothermal power generation capacity in Indonesia was 1.9 gigawatts in 2018. It then rose 21 percent over the next four years to reach 2.3 GW last year. According to state electricity company PLN’s latest 10-year Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL), Indonesia aims to increase its total installed geothermal capacity to 2.39 GW by 2030, or just 10 percent of its 23.96 GW potential capacity. The government aims to install a total of 9.3 GW by 2035, which would require an additional 7 GW of installed capacity. Andri said that achieving the 2035 target would require roughly US$3.65 million for every megawatt of geothermal power generated, which brought the total investment needed to US$25.29 billion by his calculation. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/07/27/jetp-could-help-drive-indonesias-geothermal-growth.html.
