Bali officially rejects geothermal plant, again

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika announced on Tuesday that the provincial administration had not changed its stance toward the planned construction of a geothermal power plant in the Bedugul reserve forest, some 70 kilometers north of Denpasar.

Pastika reiterated that his administration had rejected the plant. He made the statement following the central government’s latest push to continue the project, which has attracted sustained opposition from the Balinese since it was first publicized in 2005.

“After a series of discussions, during which I learned various technical aspects about the geothermal plant as well as numerous social and cultural impacts it could trigger, I finally came to the conclusion that we should retain our latest position. Therefore, I officially ask [the central government] to stop exploratory work on geothermal,” he said.

Pastika hoped the announcement would put an end to the public debate on the matter.

In a Dec. 15 meeting, attended by Pastika and local legislators, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik, made the latest push to drive the stalled plan forward, claiming that the plant would generate at least 165 megawatts (MW) of electricity, a significant amount for an island heavily dependant on electricity supplied from the neighboring island of Java.

The current electrical capacity for the resort island is 681 MW, with 600 MW reached at peak consumption times. As much as 220 MW are supplied by Java-based power plants via underwater cables.

Wacik expressed his bewilderment over the local opposition to the geothermal plant.

“I am amazed. What are the real problems?” he asked.

The minister stressed that the government would replace any trees cut down for the plant’s construction with thousands of new trees. He even promised free electricity for villages situated around the plant’s drilling sites.

For years, Bali’s dependency on electricity from Java, as well as frequent blackouts, had forced the island’s policymakers to search for alternative sources of power. Geothermal was once seen as a viable option.

However, the plan to build a geothermal plant in Bedugul met with strong resistance from green activists, who feared the construction would inflict irreversible damage upon the conserved forest and endanger the island’s largest water-catchment area.

Religious leaders also objected to the plan, claiming Bedugul and the nearby Batukaru Mountain are sacred points in the island’s divine cosmology.

The opposition was so strong that in 2005, the Bali Legislative Council and later the then governor Dewa Made Berata issued a formal rejection of the plan. In 2008, the current council and governor adopted a similar stance.

“The island has only a limited and small forested area. I don’t want the island to lose its precious forest for this project,” Pastika said, adding that each drilling site would cost the island four hectares of lush tropical forest.

He pointed out, moreover, that the three exploratory drilling sites had failed to produce the expected amount of heat, meaning the operator would have to drill more sites, thus sacrificing more forest in
the process.

Pastika also cited local religious belief as one of the reasons behind the administration’s rejection.

“The development of Bali Crossing will answer the island’s electricity supply problems,” he added, referring to the construction of cables connecting Bali with the Paiton power plant in East Java.

Bali Crossing will be completed in 2013 and will provide an additional 3,200 MW of electricity to
the island.

The chairman of the influential Grand Council of Customary Villages (MUDP), Jero Gede Putu Suwena, said the organization supported the governor’s decision. The council is an umbrella organization for nearly 1,500 customary villages on the island.

“We had issued a written statement supporting governor Berata’s administration, which originally turned down the plant. Our stance remains the same,” Suwena said.