PT Supreme Energy CEO Supramu Santosa discussed the problems of the geothermal industry in Indonesia as he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award during the IIGCE 2022. During the recently concluded IIGCE 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Indonesian Geothermal Association (INAGA) presented PT Supreme Energy CEO Supramu Santosa with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes the contribution of Supramu to the development of the geothermal industry in Indonesia.
In his acceptance speech, Supramu provided his insights on the current state of Indonesia’s geothermal industry and what INAGA, the geothermal developers, investors, and the Governments can do to address the problems.
Supramu cited the high risk and long completion times of geothermal projects as some of its main issues. As an example, the projects of PT Supreme Energy in Muara Laboh and Rantau Dedap needed 12 and 13 years, respectively, to be completed from 3G surveys to commercial operations. Exploration results were also not as expected, so capacity forecasts of the two projects had to be downgraded.
Supramu said that development of geothermal projects is slow typically because of the lack of economic feasibility considering government policies focused on “affordable” energy prices. Finding a common ground between the economics of geothermal projects and energy prices is something that INAGA, geothermal investors and developers, and the Government should strive for. Specifically, the contribution of geothermal to the environment and economic development should also be considered, beyond just being a reliable source of energy.
The 91.2-MW Rantau Dedap geothermal power plant of PT Supreme Energy in South Sumatra officially started commercial operations on December 2021. More than two years prior, the 85-MW Muara Laboh geothermal power plant also started operations.
Source: https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/pt-supreme-energy-ceo-wins-lifetime-achievement-award/