The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is considering to revise its regulation on the prices of electrical power originating from geothermal energy, an official said.
The geothermal energy prices could not be generalized for all parts of the country, the ministry’s director general of renewable energy and energy conversion, Kardaya Warnika said here on Monday.
“Indonesia has vast territory. The condition of its areas is different from one another,” he said.
The price of geothermal energy in areas which had geothermal energy sources and only fuel oils as other energy might be higher than that of other areas in the country, he said.
He said the ministry was studying the idea of revising the ministerial regulation number 2 of 2011 on the price of electrical power bought from geothermal power plants.
“We hope that the revision will be accomplished by the end of this year,” he said.
Under the ministerial regulation, the government requires state electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to buy electrical power from geothermal power plants at a maximum of 9.7 cent dollar per kWh.
The ministry’s director general of geothermal energy, Sugiharto Harsoprayitno, meanwhile said the government would use fuel oil prices as reference to set geothermal energy prices.
“If the use of fuel oil in an area reaches 30 cent dollar per kWh, the price of geothermal energy may be higher than 9.7 cent dollar per kWh thereby it will attract investors,” he said.
