Forms Investigation Team, Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources Investigate Well Kick Incident At Sorik Marapi Geothermal Project

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) through the Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) issued 5 recommendations for handling blowouts, followed by the release of H2S gas during the drilling of the T-12 geothermal well project. Sorik Marapi PLTP, PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power (SMGP).

Director of Geothermal as well as Head of Geothermal Inspector (KAIP) Harris said the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has also formed an Investigation Team of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources which today is at the location to conduct an investigation.

Not only that, the Director of Geothermal/Head of Geothermal Inspector (KAIP) has also issued an instruction letter to temporarily suspend drilling and flow testing activities to SMGP with consideration of safety and environmental protection aspects, as stated by Harris, Director of Geothermal/KAIP .

Meanwhile, when asked about the cause of the burst, Haris said that until now his party is still conducting an investigation in the field.

"The MEMR investigation team is still in the field and is still collecting data and facts, so the cause cannot be concluded," he said when contacted by VOI, Tuesday, April 26.

Regarding the current handling efforts, one of them is focused on providing optimal care to victims affected by exposure to H2S gas. Currently, the victim's health condition is getting better and several residents have been allowed to return home.

"The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources hopes that all parties can maintain a conducive situation so that recovery efforts can run smoothly," said Harris.

Harris added that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will take firm steps to enforce geothermal K3LL regulations in order to create safe and environmentally friendly geothermal exploitation.

PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power (SMGP), which is the developer of the Sorik Marapi PLTP project, reported that on April 24, 2022, there was a blowout followed by the release of H2S gas during the drilling of the T-12 geothermal well.

Blast is one of the potential hazards that can occur in drilling activities so that procedures and equipment for prevention must also be well prepared.

Sorik Marapi PLTP currently operates 2 generating units with a generating capacity of 90 MW which helps improve the reliability of the North Sumatra electricity transmission network. In the context of developing the Sorik Marapi PLTP Unit III, SMGP carried out drilling activities for geothermal wells, one of which was the T-12 well for the supply of steam for PLTP Unit III.

The drilling of the T-12 well began on April 20, 2022 and is planned to last for 44 days with a target depth of 2700 m. When a steam kick occurs, the depth of the well has only reached 370 m and has not yet reached the reservoir zone so there is a small possibility of a steam kick occurring. From the search for drilling data, the cause of the emergence of wild bursts is thought to have come from the T-11 well, which is approximately 7 meters from the T-12 well. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources team continues to investigate to find the cause of the wild bursts.

As a result of this incident, it was reported that 19 community members and 2 drilling crews were exposed to H2S gas that came out of wild bursts.