TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Managing Director of state-owned power firm PLN, Dahlan Iskan, said that they will have trouble using geothermal energy as electricity, because its domestic price of US$ 9.7 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is considered very expensive, as it surpasses its selling price to the general public.
“Later, if PLN buy geothermal at a price of US$ 9.7 cents, while the selling price could only be US$ 6.7 cents, it will be difficult and expensive. Meanwhile, they demand us to build cheap fueled power plants,” he said.
PLN considers that the most feasible geothermal electricity price is US$ 6 cents/kWh maximum to get a profit, so PLN could support the government’s intention to optimize geothermal electricity and stays efficient.