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PLN, Pertamina to spend $3.6 billion on geothermal projects
PLN and Pertamina play a very important role in achieving the target to generate 7,200 MW from geothermal power plants by 2025
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An aerial view of the Sarulla geothermal power plant in North Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra. (Courtesy of/Sarulla Operations Ltd)
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tate-owned electricity company PLN and energy company Pertamina are slated to respectively invest US$1 billion and $2.68 billion in developing geothermal power plants around the country over the next few years.
The two companies, through their namesake subsidiaries PLN Gas & Geothermal (GG) and Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), provided more than one-third of the country’s total 1,948 megawatt (MW) geothermal power supply last year, according to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM) data.
Going forward, a PLN GG director told reporters in Jakarta on Aug 14 that the company aimed to add 675 MW of geothermal capacity by 2023 – in line with PLN’s nine-year electricity procurement plan – while a PGE director said his company planned to increase capacity by 495 MW by 2026.
The additional power will come from the same power plants where PLN focuses on downstream activities while PGE focuses on upstream activities.
The ministry's director for geothermal energy Ida Nuryatin Finahari said the two companies played a very important role in reaching the government’s target to generate 7,200 MW from geothermal power plants by 2025.
“PLN, as a single buyer, also contributes to upstream and downstream efficiencies in exploiting geothermal energy. Pertamina, through Pertamina Geothermal Energy, has over 40 years of experience in geothermal energy,” she said in a short message to The Jakarta Post.
The director of PLN GG, Yudistian Yunis, said the company would team up with five undisclosed private companies for the development of eight geothermal working areas in six provinces, which are slated for commercial operation by 2023 at the earliest.
