Pertamina Geothermal Offers G20 Countries All-Green Investment Opportunities

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. PGE)

JAKARTA - PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), as part of the Subholding Pertamina Power & New Renewable Energy (PNRE), supports the acceleration of the transition to sustainable energy as one of the priority issues of the G20 Presidency of Indonesia. PGE also initiated a pilot project to increase installed geothermal capacity, through the application of Binary technology by building a Binary Unit in Lahendong, Tomohon City, North Sulawesi.

Through this technology, PGE will generate an additional potential electricity capacity of up to 25 MW. PGE President Director Ahmad Yuniarto said the company has a roadmap for developing installed capacity in PGE's geothermal work area for the next five years. This is to prepare geothermal energy as a base load for new renewable energy in Indonesia.

"PGE invites G20 member countries to cooperate in the development of geothermal energy in Indonesia as a solution in dealing with major issues such as global warming and decarbonization towards net zero emission by 2060," said Ahmad Yuniarto to the media, Tuesday, July 19.

Ahmad said that there are three areas where partnerships can be carried out, namely co-generation, co-production, and co-development. Joint generation can be done through optimization of hot water vapor (steam and brines to green power) to produce environmentally friendly electricity (green electricity).

In addition, he continued, there are four areas that can be worked on together (co-production), namely the use of CO2 for alternative fuels; extraction of nanomaterials, namely by utilizing the valuable content in geothermal fluids (rare earth elements); green hydrogen as an environmentally friendly future fuel; and green methanol.

Co-development can be done to build Geo-eco tourism and Geo-agro industry. "In principle, PGE's operations must be efficient, including in utilizing waste," said Ahmad Yuniarto.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) noted that currently, Indonesia has 23.7 GW of geothermal reserves.

Ahmad Yuniarto explained, in running the business, PGE is committed to geothermal development and ensures the implementation of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) to become an integrated part of PGE's geothermal business.

The implementation of these ESG aspects is an effort to provide added value and support PGE to government programs related to the use of new, renewable energy that is environmentally friendly, especially geothermal.

"PGE's commitment to developing geothermal energy can contribute to achieving the sustainable development targets, Goal 7 (clean and affordable energy), Goal 12 (responsible construction and production), Goal 13 (handling climate change), and Goal 15 (land ecosystems). on the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)," he concluded.