Indonesia wants to take advantage of volcanoes to make electricity

The Indonesian government has just announced an ambitious plan to take advantage of huge volcanic heat in the country to produce electricity.

Merapi volcano in Indonesia erupted in 2006. Photo: New York Times.

Over tens of thousands of islands stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, Indonesia has several hundred volcanoes. According to AFP, scientists believe that the country owns up to 40% of Earth's geothermal resources.

But Indonesia has so far only exploited a part of geothermal resources. So the government wants to seek help from investors, the World Bank and partner countries like the US and Japan to challenge the huge underground heat source. AFP said Indonesia currently produces 1,189 MW of electricity from geothermal and wants to increase by 4,000 MW by 2014.

'It is really a big challenge , ' said Surya Darma, president of the Indonesian Geothermal Association.

One of the biggest obstacles is the cost. Indonesia currently depends on coal-fired power plants. At the same capacity, a geothermal power plant will double the cost of coal-fired power plants.

But once the construction process is complete, the geothermal plant can turn the endless volcanic heat source into electricity at a lower cost - and discharge less emissions - than coal.

The problem was raised by the Indonesian government during the opening session of the World Geothermal Conference on Bali Island yesterday. This conference lasts for 6 days. About 2,000 delegates from more than 80 countries came to Indonesia to attend the conference.

'We need a $ 12 billion investment to get an additional 4,000 MW of electricity from geothermal. Field exploration may take 3 to 5 years, feasibility studies take a year, and plant construction takes about 3 years' , Herman Darnel Ibrahim, an Indonesian energy analyst, distributed expression.

Although accounting for 40% of the world's geothermal resources, Indonesia has not been able to match the US and the Philippines in terms of its ability to exploit this abundant energy source. Indonesia currently only exploits 7 geothermal sources out of 250 locations that can be exploited.

Indonesia's rapid economic growth makes the government more and more interested in geothermal. The island has 234 million people but 35% of them are not accessible to electricity.