Indonesia is believed to be the center of the world-scale geothermal industry in the future, judging by the huge potential of this new and renewable energy resource. President Director of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), Ahmad Yuniarto, said that in order to achieve this target, Indonesia cannot remain silent, but there must be efforts to optimize the utilization of geothermal energy. By becoming the center of the world's geothermal industry, energy security supported by geothermal energy can automatically be realized. Geothermal is one of the most relevant new renewable energies to become the main energy resource to meet national needs. “Indonesia has great potential for geothermal because of the abundance of resources. Electricity generated from geothermal energy is also very stable and there is still room for competitive costs and geothermal energy is very competent as a base load for power plants for any electrical system," he said, Monday (16/8). According to ThinkGeoEnergy data, as a country located in the ring of fire, Indonesia controls 40% of the world's geothermal reserves. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has targeted geothermal development to reach 9.3 GW by 2035. Indonesia also has the second largest geothermal power plant (PLTP) capacity in the world, reaching 2,133 megawatts (MW) in 2020. This amount accounts for 3.01% of electricity generation. national.
In addition, geothermal development is also in line with efforts to reduce carbon emissions. However, Yuniarto assessed that in order to be able to pursue the decarbonization target, geothermal development cannot be carried out as usual as it is now. There needs to be extra acceleration from the government as the regulator, not just relying on business actors. Green hydrogen, for example, which is a by-product of geothermal energy, its development can provide an extraordinary multiplier effect. However, its development requires a large amount of funds so that this is a challenge that must be answered by PGE. "We can use geothermal as a green economy to have an effect on Indonesia. This condition provides more value to Indonesia, but can we project green hydrogen at an efficient cost," he said. PGE has coordinated with several Ministries for the use of green hydrogen. PGE will also seek strategic partners for the development of this new business. Not only for the geothermal business, partners are also expected to bring technology and funding for the development of green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is believed to be developed side by side with geothermal potential because its reserves are also around geothermal reserves. Indonesia, which has large geothermal reserves, certainly has a big advantage. "In the future, green hydrogen is not only in demand from within but also from abroad," he said. To date, PGE is ranked first in national geothermal management with an installed capacity of 1,887 megawatts (MW). A total of 1,205 MW is managed with partners and 672 MW is operated alone by PGE. In the RUPTL geothermal development is expected to reach 5,444.5 MW in 2030 with details of PLN's installed capacity of 1,077.5 MW and IPP of 4,367 MW. In the next 10 years, PGE targets to increase the installed capacity of clean energy sourced from geothermal to more than double that which is currently operated by PGE alone. By 2030, PGE targets to increase the installed capacity which is managed directly by PGE to 1,540 MW. "This means that in 2030 PGE has the potential to be able to contribute a potential emission reduction of 9 million tons of CO2 per year, and targets to become the top three geothermal producing companies in the world," said Yuniarto. Meanwhile, Hendra Yu Tonsa Tondang, Vice President of Geothermal at PT PLN (Persero), said that a crucial problem in geothermal development is the gap in electricity tariffs and the project's economy. It is very decisive for the continuity of geothermal energy. According to him, there are several instruments to fill or close the gap, including the implementation of a carbon tax, lowering the cost of electricity production in Eastern Indonesia, capital expenditure incentives, government drilling, green/clean energy funds and the application of appropriate technology so as to increase the success ratio. project. "We know that the government is currently conducting an exploration program, government drilling," said Hendra. However, NRE electricity rates are still higher than fossil fuels. For this reason, government intervention is still very much needed to encourage the maximum utilization of NRE. “We need policies from the government, especially tariffs. When the tariff is higher than the BPP, the subsidy will also increase, right," he said.
