Palembang to have Indonesia's First Geothermal Lab
22 October 2013 11:18 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Palembang - State-owned company Superintending Company of Indonesia--also known as Sucofindo, will have the privilege of operating Indonesia's first geothermal laboratory. The laboratory will be located in Sucofindo's Palembang office in South Sumatra. Sucofindo Vice President Heru Riza said that after the laboratory is built, private geothermal operators will no longer have to travel abroad just to test samples.
"It will cut down time and budget for research as operators will not need to go to America or Japan," he said in his office, yesterday.
Heru said that South Sumatra has the largest geothermal reserves in Indonesia, estimated to reach 1,000 MWe. This was the main reason that Palembang was chosen as the location of the geothermal laboratory.
South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin said Sucofindo made the right decision by choosing Palembang as the location for Indonesia's first geothermal lab. In addition to having the largest reserves, the South Sumatra province also has the substantial reserves of coal andcoal bed methane (CBM).
PARLIZA HENDRAWAN (PALEMBANG) | MARTHA THERTINA