Geothermal Energy Could Replace Coal-Fired Power Plants in Indonesia

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy Tbk (PGE) is pushing for geothermal energy to be used as the main clean energy source supporting the national electricity load. This comes as the country’s energy supply is still underpinned by fossil fuels through coal-fired steam power plants (PLTU).

PGE’s Director of Exploration and Development, Edwil Suzandi, said the stability of geothermal supply is almost on par with fossil energy. Developing the sector is considered capable of safeguarding green energy resilience because its output is unaffected by weather or time.

“We recognise that geothermal is similar to fossil energy in that it can support baseload — energy that is not affected by heat, rain, day or night — so it will consistently generate electricity in any situation,” he said on the CNBC Indonesia Energy Corner programme, quoted on Friday (24/7/2026).

This characteristic makes geothermal superior to other renewables such as solar or wind, which are intermittent in nature and dependent on the weather. Moreover, geothermal is abundantly available across Indonesia, so there is no need to rely on imports.

“Geothermal is an indigenous resource — the resource is right here, we don’t need to import it, we don’t need to buy it, it’s already in our own land,” he added.

At present, Indonesia’s installed geothermal capacity only reaches around 11–12% of the total available potential. PGE is committed to increasing its installed capacity from the current 727 Mega Watts (MW) towards a long-term target of 3 Giga Watts (GW) to strengthen the national electricity system.

“Our target is to be number one in the world, and PGE also wants to become the company with the largest installed capacity in the world, namely 3 GW — that is our vision going forward,” he explained.

To achieve this target, the company is accelerating various projects, one of which is through the groundbreaking of the Lumut Balai Unit 3 geothermal power plant (PLTP) development in Muara Enim, South Sumatra. In addition, PGE is carrying out exploration in the Gunung 3 area of Lampung as well as preparing for drilling in Kotamobagu, North Sulawesi.

“Several projects are currently under discussion with PLN, and God willing, in the coming days we can resolve and sign an agreement that will add capacity of around 45 MW,” he concluded.