Geothermal Electricity Price Not To Exceed 29 Cents Per Kwh

Jakarta, April 15 (Antara) - The government plans to set the price of electricity produced by geothermal power plants at a maximum of 29 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), an official stated. Director General of New and Renewable Energy and Energy Conversion at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Rida Mulyana declared here, on Monday that the ministry had revised the price of geothermal electricity. "The price of geothermal electricity will range from 11.5 to 29 US cents per kWh," he confirmed, after adding that the energy and mineral resources minister was drafting a regulation on the new price of geothermal electricity. "It will be issued later this month," he asserted. The new price of geothermal electricity will be put into force between 2014 and 2025, he pointed. "The maximum price of 29 US cents will apply to geothermal power plants starting operation in 2025," he noted. Rida explained that the new price was based on the formula recommended by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. "The World Bank has recommended that the price of geothermal electricity should be at a range of 12-30 US cents per kWh," he emphasized. The ministry had also familiarized stakeholders including state electricity company PT PLN, entrepreneurs, banks and the Finance Ministry, with the new price, he pointed out. He indicated that the government was preparing three options with regards to the price of electricity produced by old geothermal power plants. The first option was to allow the operators of geothermal power plants to return their permits to the government, he noted. "Further, their working areas will be auctioned by allowing them to take part in the auction," he commented. The second option was requiring the operators of geothermal power plants to sign contracts under the old price. "If based on the result of exploration, the price is not economical, they could negotiate with PLN on it," he stated. The last option was revoking their permits, he elucidated.