The government is weighing the possibility of merging three state geothermal companies, PT PLN Geothermal, PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, and PT Geo Dipa Energi (GDE), a State Ministry for State Enterprises official says.

"A team to oversee the merger has already been formed and is currently in full operation," Deputy for Mining, Strategic Industry, Energy and Telecommunication at the State Ministry for State Enterprises Sahala Lumban Gaol said on Wednesday.

According to Sahala, the three companies share a vision for the merger, but have yet to decide on a complete merger, or to form a holding company.

"They agree that geothermal development by state companies is very important to the efforts for finding alternative sources of energy," he said.

PLN Geothermal is a unit of state power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Pertamina Geothermal is a subsidiary of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, and GDE is a joint venture company between PLN and Pertamina.

Currently, GDE has a 60 megawatt (MW) power plant on the Dieng plateau in Central Java based on potential reserves of 800 MW, Pertamina Geothermal Energy has three power plants located in Sibayak, North Sumatra with a capacity of 12 MW and a potential of 240 MW; in Kamojang, West Java, with a capacity of 200 MW and a potential of 300 MW; and finally in Lahendong, North Sulawesi, with a capacity of 40 MW and a potential of 530 MW.

Sahala said that Indonesia's relatively untapped geothermal resources had immense potential for future development, such as the Patuha and Dieng fields.

"Indonesia's geothermal potential is the best in the world," Gaol argued.

The director general for coal and geothermal minerals at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Bambang Setiawan, said Indonesia has 40 percent of global geothermal potential , the largest reserves in the world. The country could produce a total of 27,510 megawatts (MW) of energy from this source, equivalent to 219 billion barrels of crude oil.

State Minister of State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil had approved of the merger plan for reasons of efficiency. "The presence of a state-owned geothermal sector potentially means relieving the government energy subsidy, which can then be transferred elsewhere." Sofyan said.

Popular

FDA flags radioactive traces in Indonesian spice export

Calls grow to suspend free meal program after mass poisoning

Fishermen call for clearer $2.9b vessel upgrade program