“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."
"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Geothermals Boosted by New Price Floor

Jakarta Globe, Tito Summa Siahaan, August 30, 2012

A geothermal power plant in Wayang Windu, West Java. (GA Photo/M. Defrizal)  
      
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s debate rages on the legacy likely to be left by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when he leaves office, one contender is his efforts to encourage Indonesians to embrace a lower-carbon economy.

The president is aiming to bring the contribution of renewables to the national energy mix to 25 percent by 2025 and 35 percent by 2050.

Those renewables are likely to be sourced largely from the country’s vast geothermal potential, which some estimates put at 40 percent of the world’s reserves, and hydropower.

State funding alone will not be enough to achieve such an energy mix, so private investors must be lured to participate.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said on Wednesday that he had signed a decree that will increase the tariff for electricity generated from geothermal power plants. The decree will soon be made official in the form of regulation, probably this week, the minister added.

He said that the decree will set the minimum tariff for geothermal electricity at 10 cents per kilowatt hour in Sumatra; 11 cents per kWh in Java and Bali; 12 cents per kWh in Central, Southeast and North Sulawesi; 13 cents per kWh in North Sulawesi and Gorontalo; 14 cents per kWh for East and West Nusa Tenggara; and 18 cents per kWh for Papua.

Jero said the government realized there was a need to massively develop the nation’s geothermal potential and that investors had shown excitement toward the sector when the plan to raise the tariff was announced.

“We only utilize around 5 percent of geothermal potential. I estimate that around 6,000 megawatts of electricity can be generated [from geothermal],” Jero said.

While a more attractive tariff will increase private investor interest in geothermal projects, investment returns are just one of the limitations curbing activity.

Motofumi Kohara from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, a government body involved in Indonesia’s infrastructure development, said the issue of complicated permits and the risk that investors must carry acted as constraints on the development of geothermal projects.

Speaking at the Indonesia International Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2012 currently taking place in Jakarta, Kohara said the government needed to mitigate the risk borne by independent power producers during the exploration stage of geothermal projects.

Furthermore, he noted, half the geothermal projects in the second phase of a government program to fast-track the development of electricity generators require permission to use forests, another concerning issues.

While investors in geothermal projects may soon enjoy a higher return, a cautious approach is still evident in the hydropower sector.

Josef M. Ullmer, the president director of Andritz Hydro, an equipment distributor for hydropower plants, called on the government to show more commitment in its push for hydropower projects.

“Hydropower is the cheapest of all energy sources and has a 90 percent efficiency rate,” he said.


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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pertamina’s Geothermal Push Gets a Price Boost

Jakarta Globe, August 15, 2012

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Pertamina Geothermal Energy, a subsidiary of state energy firm Pertamina, plans to develop another eight geothermal projects after the government announced that the electricity price from geothermal power plants would be increased to make the sector more attractive.

Work on the projects is expected to begin next year but there was no information on where they would be located.

Slamet Riyadhi, president director of PGE, said the company planned to spend an additional $2.7 billion on geothermal projects. That is in addition to the $6 billion it has invested in the ongoing development of 10 geothermal projects.

The new projects would generate 900 megawatts of electricity, he said. The 10 projects already in development would have an estimated combined capacity of 962 megawatts once completed.

The energy and mineral resources minister, Jero Wacik, announced last month that the purchase price of electricity produced by geothermal sources would be increased from 9.7 cents per kilowatt hour to between 10 cents and 17 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on the location.

“If the government makes this price increase official this year, we can start the process of surveying for the new projects next year,” Slamet said.

He said the internal rate of return, a measure of profitability on investment, for geothermal projects under the current price of 9.7 cents per kilowatt hour was 9 percent.

“That is well below the ideal 11 to 14 percent rate for investment in renewable energy,” Slamet said. He added that an 11 to 14 percent rate of investment return could be reached under the proposed new price.

He said the current price structure left investors reluctant to develop geothermal projects, particularly with the additional upstream risks they faced.

“Now they will have no more excuses,” he said.

Slamet said the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the Forestry Ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding on the utilization of forest areas for geothermal projects that could speed up the process of obtaining permits.

“Now we can secure a permit for a geothermal project a month or two faster than usual,” he said. “This is good. Now we can achieve our target of generating 2,000MW of electricity in 2018, ahead of our previous timeline of 2020.”

Indonesia is said to hold some 40 percent of the world’s geothermal energy potential. Unlike other energy sources, however, geothermal energy cannot be transported so a power plant must be built near the source to tap it, making investment more expensive.

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