Development Progress and Strategy of Geothermal Resources In Indonesia

Indonesia ranks first in Southeast Asia in terms of area, population and economy. Most of the country is located on the Pacific Rim volcanoes and has abundant geothermal resources with an estimated resource of 28GW, accounting for 40% of the global total, but only 7% has been developed so far. In the past 10 years, it has obviously shown a momentum of accelerated development. It is expected that in 2024, Indonesia will surpass the United States to become the world's largest geothermal utilization country. Under the current conditions of relatively matured development and utilization technologies in geothermal power generation, the development of geothermal energy in Indonesia is not as speedy as expected given abundant resources estimated. As the Indonesian entering the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the urgency to maximize the use of new and renewable energy, including geothermal, is exponentially increasing which requires a review of its development restrictions and challenges to effectively and efficiently progress the development and utilization of the geothermal energy. This paper summarizes the current progress of geothermal development, business strategy and efforts of the Indonesian authority as well as investors’ perspectives to facilitate the geothermal development progressing for monetizing potential resources and delivering cleaner energy to the community.