Stella reveals reasons why geothermal energy is not yet effective in Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Wamendiktisaintek) Stella Christie has revealed the reasons why geothermal energy has not yet been applied effectively in Indonesia.

“Why has it not succeeded until now (in implementation)? The issue is the electricity price from fossil fuel coal, which is around 7-8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), while geothermal is still around 18 cents per kWh in Indonesia,” said the Wamendiktisaintek in Jakarta on Monday.

The high price of geothermal electricity, she continued, has also caused many countries worldwide not to implement this renewable energy. Therefore, Indonesia could take the lead in this area, given its vast potential.

Deputy Minister Stella stated that around 40 per cent of the world’s geothermal energy is located in Indonesia. Therefore, various applied research efforts need to be conducted to utilise Indonesia’s geothermal energy potential.

Stella underlined that geothermal energy must be one of the country’s strategic research priorities because, in addition to being clean, geothermal energy is also considered consistent without depending on the weather, unlike solar or wind energy.

It is known that the Indonesian Government now positions energy research as a main pillar in the National Strategic Research Programme. This step is taken to pursue the target of a 23 per cent renewable energy mix as planned in the national energy policy.

The integration of geothermal energy research on a national scale is also part of Indonesia’s commitment to the Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (E-NDC) to achieve Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2060 or earlier.