West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan made assurances Thursday that geothermal exploration in Cisolok, Sukabumi regency, would not threaten the nearby Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park.
In September, the provincial administration announced PT Jabar Halimun Geothermal the winner of a tender to explore geothermal resources in Cisolok, with a concession area of some 15,000 hectares bordering the national park.
The company is a consortium of state engineering firm PT Rekayasa Industri and construction firm PT Jasa Sarana, which is 70 percent owned by the West Java administration.
The Cisolok project has come under the spotlight because of concerns over geothermal exploration being conducted in the protected area.
"It won't disturb the environment because a geothermal (power plant) is environmental friendly," Ahmad said after meeting with the concession winners and the West Java Mining and Energy Agency at Bandung's Gedung Sate.
"The tender winners have great concern for green issues because the water supply will great affect the geothermal wells," he said.
The provincial administration has stipulated several obligations on the bid winners, including a required guarantee deposit of US$10 million in an escrow account.
Winners must also start exploring their concession areas within one year of establishing private limited companies to operate the areas.
Ahmad was optimistic the investors would make the Cisolok area greener than before.
Tubagus Hisni, head of the provincial mining and energy agency, said there was heated debate over the possibility of the exploration area overlapping into the national park.
He said a 2007 decree from the Forestry Ministry on the expansion of Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park had clearly delineated the protected forest's borders.
"The decree is clear, there is no overlap," he said.
In addition to Jabar Halimun Geothermal, two other bidding winners were also announced in September.
State power producer PT Indonesia Power was granted a concession in Mount Tangkuban Perahu with a capacity of 2x55 megawatts (MW) that may be sold to state utility firm PT PLN at 5.8 US cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
State construction firm PT Wijaya Karya will operate in Mt. Tampomas with a capacity of 2x20 MW and sold at 6.5 cents per kWh.
Electricity generated from the Cisolok power plant will be sold at 6.85 cents per kWh.
Despite a plethora of volcanoes, West Java has yet to fully tap its geothermal potential.
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