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PLN to increase geothermal power by tenfold on Flores Island
The company plans to increase the installed capacity of geothermal power plants on the island to 115 Megawatt.
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The 30MW Sokoria geothermal plant is located in the mountains of Ende regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Plant operator Sokoria Geothermal Indonesia plans to begin operation next year with an initial production capacity of 5 MW. (PLN/PLN)
S
tate-owned utility company PLN is set to increase the production capacity of geothermal power plants on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), by tenfold over the next nine years to support a promised tourism boom on the island.
The company plans to increase the installed capacity of geothermal power plants on the island to 115 Megawatt (MW ) from 10 MW last year by 2028 through the completion of six such power plants, starting with the 30MW Sokoria plant slated to begin its first phase of operation in February next year.
"Flores has large geothermal potential that can be used to produce electricity not only for households but also for the local growing tourist and hotel industry," PLN spokesman Dwi Suryo Abdullah told The Jakarta Post in a short text message on Monday.
The geothermal power plants contributed 13.4 percent of the total 327.5 Gigawatt Hours (GWh) of electricity consumed on the island in the January-October period, according to PLN ‘s latest data.
The utility company estimates Flores’s geothermal potential at over 660 MW, higher than the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s forecast of 629 MW. Either way, both institutions consider geothermal the most developed and stable renewable energy source for the island, following the successful operation of the 10 MW Ulumbu geothermal plant in 2014.
In cementing the government’s commitment to developing the island’s geothermal power, former energy minister Ignasius Jonan issued Ministerial Decree No. 2268/2017 to make Flores a geothermal island.
“Outside of PLN’s electricity procurement plan [RUPTL], which is a demand-driven model, we are also trying to create a market for renewable energy,” said the ministry’s renewable energy director general, Sutijastoto.
