TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) reported that the country’s geothermal energy is capable of producing up to 24 gigawatts of electricity.

Bayu Azmi, coordinator of the Research Group for Nuclear Investigation and Evaluation Engineering, said the potential exists because Indonesia has 40% of the world's potential geothermal resources.

“Indonesia's geothermal power is the largest in the world. If converted into electric power, it could reach 24 gigawatts,” Bayu said in Jakarta, Wednesday, October 25.

Despite the great potential, he said, the current use of geothermal energy contributing to power plants is still less than 10 percent. The government aims to generate 31 gigawatts of electricity from new renewable energy sources by 2025.

Apart from that, Bayu explained that geothermal is an environmentally friendly energy source as the electrical energy it produces has low carbon emissions. This is in line with the government's vision of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2060.

He believed that by optimizing its geothermal energy, Indonesia could realize the electrical energy supply through new renewable energy and the vision of net zero emissions.

“If Indonesia's geothermal potential is optimized 100 percent, then the targets can be met, of course, with the support of other environmentally friendly renewable energy,” the researcher added.

“Indonesia's nature provides new, renewable energy sources that are extremely abundant and environmentally friendly. It would be extraordinary if we could make optimal use of them,” Bayu said.

ANTARA

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