Bali Welcomes the World: South Pacific takes center stage at World Geothermal Congress

In Indonesia, the World Geothermal Conference drew participants from around the globe to the Bali International Convention Centre, while the host nation hopes to draw investment money for what everyone believes are richest and most extensive geothermal resources in the world. Attendees from the archipelago’s southern neighbor, New Zealand were there to highlight there extensive portfolio of work in the field and forge new global partnerships.

Indonesia is hungry for new sources of energy, and its national oil company, Pertamina estimated in 2000 that the combined potential of its resources represents about 20,000 MW. The National Geological Agency of Indonesia has since identified more than 27 GW of electric potential from 256 locations of geothermal fields over the country.

Supramu Santosa, chief executive officer of Indonesia’s PT Supreme Energy, told the conference that because of the higher level of risk in developing a geothermal project, the Indonesian government needed to provide greater incentives for investors willing to take on those risks and must speed up its approval process.

Abadi Poernomo, president director of state-owned PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, said that multiple licenses were required for exploration and development of geothermal projects. These included environmental impact analysis from the Environment Ministry, land permits from the Forestry Ministry and a recommendation from the provincial governor, which he said took a minimum of one and a half to two years to get.

However, in recent weeks, the government did move to ease licensing for forest use for geothermal projects. Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan pledged that his office would issue licenses to use forests for geothermal projects in days, rather than months, as it currently stands.

Mining – as geothermal energy production effectively is – in protected forests has been a major stumbling block. The ministry believes that about 70% of the country’s geothermal deposits were located in protected and conservation areas. However, the country is heavily dependent on coal or electrical production and the government is simultaneously offering tax incentives to geothermal developers while maintaining control of it forest resources. Developers are limited to mining underground in the forests.

New Zealand companies touting a wealth of experience with geothermal dating back to the 1950s. They are consulting for and supplying to various partners in countries including Indonesia and also the Philippines, Australia, Papua New Guinea and a range of countries through the western Pacific and Asia. There are also interests in South America, as well as east African Rift countries.

In Indonesia, New Zealand built the Kamojang 1 Project, the first geothermal power station in the country. It funded and provided technical engineering support for the facility which opened in 1982. Companies like PB, PT AECOM, and SKM are heavily involved in other geothermal projects including Kamojang, Darajat, Dieng, Gunung Salak, Wayang Windu, Lahendong and Ulumbu.

The country remains one of the few countries to offer post-graduate training in the field, and has done so for 30 years. Engineers and scientists trained in New Zealand now work in Indonesia or the Philippines.