TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Geothermal exploration in Indonesia
It is believed that the geothermal potential in Indonesia is far greater than predicted although predictions are unreliable.
Change Size
Environmentally-friendly – Two workers inspect high-pressure pipelines at
the Lahendong geothermal power plant in Tompaso, Minahasa, North Sulawesi, on Sept.26. (Antara/Adwit B. Pramono)
"With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we use it.” — Stephen Hawking.
There have been several articles published recently, including The Jakarta Post’s comment about funding for geothermal exploration. The author has been stating for quite some time that the key to geothermal development is exploration and investment and that the government has to take responsibility for this.
It is well known that Indonesia has 40 percent of the world’s geothermal reserves, although these reserves are only predicted and not confirmed. In order to confirm the resources, to know the extent of the “Ring of Energy,” (as this is what the Ring of Fire is), to know where the reservoirs are, exploration of the whole “Ring of Energy” has to be carried out, this can not be done by traditional exploration methods only due to the time, cost and investment requirements of exploring for something that carries a lot of risk.
A defined geothermal working area (WKP) is unlikely to define the extent of a geothermal potential, exploration has to cover more than the WKP area that has basically been defined by a surface manifestation, knowledge of the surrounding areas potential is important for the design of a geothermal power plant for expansion in the future.
Geothermal systems are inherently open systems and are often accompanied by surface outflows of mass and heat. Most of the presently known geothermal fields were discovered because of surface manifestations such as hot springs, fumaroles, and hydrothermally altered ground, i.e. using methods analogous to the exploration for oil by drilling on oil seeps.
There are “hidden” or “blind” geothermal systems that by definition do not have readily identifiable surface manifestations. Although the frequency of occurrence of these concealed resources is largely a matter of speculation at this time, there exists a need to use a methodology for identifying these promising targets.
It is believed that the geothermal potential in Indonesia is far greater than predicted although predictions are unreliable. The following quote by the geologists Manfred P. Holstein and Sayogi Sudarman is correct: “To extend the speculation to predict the power potential of volcanic geothermal prospects has probably become an exercise in optimism.”
