Why Is There No Geothermal Auction Until 2022?

The Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry has decided not to auction off any geothermal working area (WKP) for the next two years and collect several relevant data through exploration drilling. ESDM Ministry’s Geothermal Director, Ida Nuryatin Finahari, revealed that the decisions were necessary to provide prospective investors with comprehensive data. Hopefully, the data would lower geothermal project risks borne by the developers, and the selling price of electricity could get even cheaper. “The progress will also be faster since they do not have to start the project from scratch, from the re-survey,” she explained.

According to Ida, a geothermal project usually required at least ten years to complete. Since the exploration phase executed by the government, it would take only five years. The government plans to start the exploration phase this year by acquiring more geothermal data, while the drilling process will expectedly happen next year. “We will hold WKP auctions in 2022,” Ida revealed. Nevertheless, the government’s geothermal exploration activities must have to wait for the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on the renewable (EBT) electricity purchase, issued this month.