The World Bank has announced a $300 million financing package for two projects that will help boost geothermal capacity in Indonesia by up to 150MW. The funds will be used to help Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) ? a subsidiary of state-owned oil & gas group Pertamina ? to expand existing projects and reduce Indonesia?s reliance on coal generation. About 110MW will be added at Ulubelu in South Sumatra and 40MW at Lehendong in North Sulawesi. The package a $175 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and $125m advanced through its Clean Technology Fund.
Indonesia recently unveiled plans to invest almost $16 billion in renewable power generation and infrastructure over the next 15 years, taking the share of renewables in total generation to 17 per cent by 2025 from 5 per cent now. Most of the current renewable capacity comes from 1.28GW of geothermal plants. International Power, Japan?s Marubeni, Tata Power and Australia?s origin Energy, along with a host of smaller Australian geothermal companies, are also pursuing geothermal projects in Indonesia."
