Indonesia Clears Path for Geothermal Energy as Power Needs Rise

Nation plans 25 tenders for new geothermal sites next year and aims to boost geothermal to 10 percent of power mix

Jakarta Globe, Michael Taylor & Wilda Asmarini, Nov 21, 2014

Jakarta. Indonesia has unveiled ambitious targets to triple geothermal power output this decade, introducing a series of land and regulatory reforms aimed at becoming the world’s largest producer of the fossil fuel alternative.

Sat atop the volcanic Pacific Ring of Fire, the world’s fourth-most populous nation is anxious to exploit geothermal energy as a clean and abundant power source as it races to attract investors and meet soaring power demand.

“With Indonesia increasingly having to import oil, coupled with a growing electricity demand, it is critical that it diversifies it base for electricity generation,” said Chris de Lavigne of consultancy Frost & Sullivan. “Indonesia has the potential to become the world’s largest producer of geothermal.”

As the world’s third-biggest geothermal producer with a capacity of 1.4 gigawatt (GW), Indonesia lags behind the Philippines and the United States with capacities of 1.9 and 3.4 GW each. Indonesia aims to up its capacity by 4.9 GW by 2019.

Yet progress has been slow due to red tape, uncompetitive power tariffs and uncertainty over asset ownership. The 25 years it has taken from the planning stage to breaking ground on its latest project show the formidable barriers the sector faces.

The government says reforms to curb the power of regional authorities to intrude on projects, as well as to make it easier to build in forest areas, should accelerate development of 25 project sites due for tender in early 2015.

“There are no more obstacles in this sector. It’s time for us to work. It is a business opportunity,” said Tisnaldi, director of geothermal, directorate general of renewable energy and energy conservation at the energy and mines ministry.

Geothermal investors hope the new government of President Joko Widodo will follow up with plans to reform power price caps in the same way it reduced subsidies for transport fuel, as well as tackle other obstacles.

“If you can lift the hurdle behind land acquisition and permits, that will help,” said Fazil Alfitri, president director at Medco Power Indonesia, a firm active in geothermal power.

Geothermal projects typically tap heat below the earth’s crust by pumping water into deep wells where it is converted into steam to drive turbines.

But they are susceptible to red-tape given they usually need long-term, complex government policy commitments. They also came under Indonesian mining laws, restricting developments in forest areas until recent amendments.

Indonesia’s plans could see geothermal meet 10 percent of power demand by 2020, up from 3 percent today. Currently about half of power supplies are met by coal, a fuel it is keen to use less in order to boost exports. Gas makes up about 20 percent and oil 12 percent.

Many geothermally active countries are planning new plants, with global capacity jumping from 2 to 12 GW since 1980.

Frost and Sullivan’s Lavigne said Indonesia’s geothermal capacity could be as high as 29 GW, almost two-thirds of the country’s current overall generation.

‘Game changer’

The $1.6 billion Sarulla project in North Sumatra, the world’s biggest, saw construction start this year, 25 years after it was first planned, delayed largely by a lack of finance and red tape.

Describing Sarulla as a “game-changer”, Shamim Razavi, an energy lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright, said it would mean financers would be prepared to look for new projects.

Most of the biggest existing plants, such as Chevron’s Salak, are on densely populated Java island.

Sarulla will connect to the national grid, although some plants in remote spots are restricted to serving local areas. The 25 new sites set for tender in early 2015 are mostly in forest areas in Java and Sumatra. Sarulla will have a capacity of 330 MW, enough to power about 330,000 homes.

If successful, Indonesia could follow its Southeast Asian neighbor the Philippines, where geothermal fuel meets a quarter of electricity use, reducing pollution and fuel imports.

Reuters

Seminar on Israel water technology to be held in Taipei

Want China Times, 2014-11-12

A K. B. Recycling Industrials booth at a new energy and technology expo
in Air port city, Israel, Feb. 19. (File photo/Xinhua)

A seminar on Israel's water technology will be held in Taiwan later this month to promote exchanges in the area, the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said in a recent statement.

The seminar, slated to take place Nov. 28 in Taipei, will bring together representatives of eight Israeli companies who will share their technologies and products with Taiwanese firms in an effort to seek potential cooperation, said the office, which is co-organizing the event with Taiwan's Water Resources Agency.

The agenda will include discussions on desalination, waste water management, quality management of drinking water and recycled water, the office said.

As the government is planning to begin collecting water pollution control fees starting December, how to effectively handle waste water has become an important issue.

Israel has developed advanced technologies to deal with its waste water, 97% of which is reused for irrigation. It has also been exporting its water technologies, including desalination, waste water recycling and drip irrigation, to other countries, the office said.

Business meetings will also be arranged for Israeli and Taiwanese companies to explore cooperation opportunities, it added.

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”

Power Grid Needs a Jump-Start

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita, Nov 05, 2014

Two workers fix an electricity network operated by state-owned electricity
firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) in Semarang. (JG Photo/Dhana Kencana)

Jakarta. Indonesia needs more than 35,000 megawatts of additional electricity supply in the next five years to support the 7 percent economic growth, the target set by President Joko Widodo.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy now has nearly 52,000 MW of installed electricity capacity nationwide to support its population of over 250 million people.

About 91 percent of current capacity is comes from power plants built and owned by state-run utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara, while the rest comes from other sources including independent power producers (IPP), who sell the electricity to PLN.

“In the next five years, there should be at least an additional 35,000 MW of capacity to support economic growth of between 6 percent and 6.5 percent. If we want up to 7 percent growth, then we must add more than 35,000 MW of capacity,” the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources’ director general for electricity, Jarman, said in remarks at event for Indonesia Infrastructure Week on Wednesday.

He added that demand for electricity is growing by about 3 percent every year.

PLN president director Nur Pamudji said the company, which controls most electricity distribution nationwide, can contribute about 15,000 MW of additional power, while the remainder (20,000 MW) is expected to come from IPPs.

President Joko called on Tuesday for investments in the electricity sector as the country needs more power plants to support the economy and people’s welfare.

“Power plants are really needed throughout our archipelago. The problem is electricity. If the electricity is available, industry and manufacture can enter,” the president said at the national working meeting in the State Palace.

Indian children asked to blow whistle on open defecation

Yahoo – AFP, 2 Nov 2014

Indian men wash in a toilet complex run by an NGO Sulabh International at
a railway station in New Delhi on April 23, 2011 (AFP file)

Children armed with whistles will soon be patrolling villages in central India to try to shame those defecating in the open, a report said Sunday.

Madhya Pradesh state government is expected soon to launch the unusual sanitation initiative, in which schoolchildren will blow their whistles loudly when they spot someone squatting in the open instead of using a toilet.

Open defecation has long been a major health and sanitation problem in India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying every household should have a toilet within four years.

But a Madhya Pradesh official said many preferred to relieve themselves in the open rather than use a toilet, requiring unusual efforts to halt the practice which spreads disease.

"It is not just enough to make 'pucca' (proper) toilets to stop the practice of open defecation in rural areas," Sanjay Dubey, a divisional commissioner for Indore region, told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

"There is also a need to launch an effective social drive in such areas to check it," Dubey said.

Children in the Indore region will be educated about the need to keep their surroundings clean, before being handed the whistles and asked to roam their neighbourhoods, he told the news agency.

"This (blowing a whistle) would make that person feel shameful and would help to check this practice."

Modi has stressed the need to clean up India, which has a reputation for poor public hygiene and rudimentary sanitation.

A recent report by the UN children's fund UNICEF estimates almost 594 million -- or nearly 50 percent of India's population -- defecate in the open.

In addition to those who choose to do so, some 300 million women and girls are forced to squat in the open at night, exposing themselves to harassment and assault.

The issue was highlighted in May when two girls, aged 12 and 14, were attacked as they went into the fields to relieve themselves. Police are investigating if they were gang-raped before being lynched.

Related Article:

This Man Is Modi's Best Chance To Make India Sanitary

Bangladesh inquiry under way into nationwide blackout

The West Australian – AFP, November 2, 2014

Bangladesh inquiry under way into nationwide blackout

Dhaka (AFP) - An inquiry was under way Sunday into Bangladesh's nationwide blackout, which plunged homes, businesses and even the prime minister's office into darkness.

Power was restored across the country by Sunday morning, a government minister said.

"There is no power shortfall anywhere in the country. The supply is now fully normal across the country," junior power minister Nasrul Hamid told reporters after the outage which hit just before midday on Saturday.

"We've set up a probe committee to investigate. The committee has already started work and will submit its findings in three days."

Loud cheers could be heard in Dhaka late Saturday as the lights came back on in phases, after residents spent hours outdoors or on their roofs.

Dhaka, with a population of 15 million, had resembled a ghost town as dusk descended, with homes, businesses and government offices plunged into darkness, and hospitals and the international airport forced to use backup generators.

Water supplies were hit as most of the pumps which supply groundwater could not function.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Chowdhury Alamgir Hossain, a director of state-run Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, blamed the failure of a transmission line from India for the blackout.

All cities and towns linked to the national grid had been hit, Masud Alberuni, a senior power ministry official, told AFP.

Alberuni said the grid "tripped" and "all the power-generating stations in the country automatically shut down in a cascading effect".

The outage marked the first time the entire country has been without power since November 2007 when Bangladesh was hit by a devastating cyclone.

The country's garment and other industries were largely unaffected because many of the thousands of factories were closed on Saturday.

Electricity supplies in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries with a population of 155 million, are vastly overstretched at the best of times.

Bangladesh, like many developing countries, has an expanding middle-class and increasing industrialisation which is imposing heavier loads on limited generating capacity.

To boost supply, Dhaka began importing power from India late last year through a line stretching from India's eastern state of West Bengal to southwestern Bangladesh.

But India itself struggles to produce enough power, with a major blackout in 2012 hitting two-thirds of its states.

In Bangladesh, the presidential palace, the prime minister's office, government offices and television stations were among premises hit by the outage.

But many people in poor rural parts of the country, accustomed to regular power cuts lasting many hours, did not even know that the blackout was nationwide.