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.
5MW geothermal plant in Flores set for operation early next year
The Sokoria geothermal power plant on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara province, is slated to begin the first phase operations in February next year.
Change Size
The 30MW Sokoria geothermal power plant on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara is slated for full power commercial operations by 2024. (PLN/PLN)
T
he Sokoria geothermal power plant on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara province is slated to begin the first phase of operations in February next year.
Power producer Sokoria Geothermal Indonesia and state-owned utility company PLN said in a joint statement on Sunday that the plant would have an initial production capacity of 5 megawatts (MW), with a gradual increase in capacity to 30MW by 2024.
Sokoria head of corporate affairs Syahrini Nuryanti said the company had drilled five geothermal wells since receiving its business permit in 2015. Each well measures around 2,000 meters deep and costs around US$5 million.
“We are drilling up till our seventh well. Construction is still on schedule and we are certain that we’ll begin operating in February 2020,” she said.
Renewable energy power plants contributed 18.29 percent to the island’s total 327.5 Gigawatt Hours (GWh) of electricity consumed in the January-October period this year, PLN noted in the statement. Geothermal energy alone contributed 44 GWh.
“The aim of developing electricity infrastructure on Flores Island is, other than to reach an 100 percent electrification ratio by 2020, to support investment and economic growth in Flores,” said PLN East Nusa Tenggara general manager Ignatius Rendroyoko.
