There are several challenges that have been identified for geothermal development in Indonesia; one of them is the rejection by the local community that hinders the exploration or development phase. Common practices by field developer to engage with the local community in the early exploration phase is by holding socialization events and involving local people in exploration activities. However, these approaches have several limitations such as short exploration project period and the non-continuous nature of the socialization event, thus less effective and unable to give adequate understanding to the local people regarding the geothermal project.

An alternative approach to current practice that has been emerging recently and discussed in previous studies and publications is by utilizing and creating geothermal direct use facility to engage with the local community during the early phase of exploration. This approach is considered a promising idea, especially considering that currently geothermal direct use application in Indonesia is underutilized compared to our vast geothermal potential, even compared with other countries. The purpose of this study is to summarize and discuss the current geothermal direct use applications in Indonesia and around the world. These various geothermal direct use application facilities are analyzed, and a preliminary concept of geothermal direct use as an alternative approach in community engagement during early exploration phase in Indonesia is proposed.

Apart from electricity generation, geothermal energy can be utilised for other direct use application such as bathing, heating, agriculture products drying, and also as tourism objects. As one of the countries that has a vast geothermal energy potential, Indonesia has an advantage as a tourism destination. However, compared to other countries that are rich with geothermal sources such as New Zealand or Iceland, Indonesia is still lagging behind in the promotion of its geothermal surface features as a tourism destination. There are relatively a few well-known geothermal tourist destinations in Indonesia compared to Indonesia’s numerous geothermal areas. This paper reviews and compares the geothermal utilisation as tourism purpose in New Zealand, USA, and Iceland. Examples from famous geothermal tourism places such as Yellowstone (USA), Rotorua and Taupo (NZ), and Blue Lagoon (Iceland) are reviewed, and the approach used by these countries to promote and develop geothermal tourism are also discussed and summarised. Finally, this paper tries to summarise what are the approaches that can be used by Indonesia to further develop its geothermal resources as tourism objects, and the possibility to pair geothermal tourism closely with education and industrial energy use.

As a country that is believed to have one of the largest geothermal energy potentials in the world, Indonesia is currently in the effort of achieving the target of utilizing this potential. One of the most significant obstacles in the process of achieving this target is the high drilling cost, which has become a topic of discussion in many geothermal forums in Indonesia. Geothermal drilling activities is commonly known to have expensive cost components which can give immediate effect to the total cost of the whole geothermal project. Therefore, it is highly important to manage it from the early planning phase to the execution in order to optimize the actual cost at the end of the drilling project. One fact that makes the authors of this study confident that there is still room for improvement or optimization in geothermal drilling costs in Indonesia is the wide variation of drilling costs summarized by Government in Indonesia based on geothermal well drilling data in Indonesia from 2011-2018.

One of the challenges in conducting this study is the difficulty of obtaining geothermal drilling data in detail from geothermal developers in Indonesia due to the absence of an integrated database system and lack of publication from Indonesian drilling engineers. While waiting for the drilling data to be gathered, the authors start a discussion to map all factors that might impact the overall drilling cost. Later, when the drilling data is available, all the factors mapped in this study can be analyzed to see the correlation strength to the total drilling cost. The authors consider this as a preliminary work that summarize the brainstorming sessions between authors on several factors impacting the drilling cost. Therefore, the final goal is to trigger further study with more focus on each area or factors that contribute to drilling cost and increase awareness of Indonesia drilling community to build an integrated database system to accelerate the learning process in drilling geothermal wells.

Indonesia memiliki banyak ladang minyak tua dengan komposisi air terproduksi yang tinggi, dimana air terproduksi ini masih dapat dipergunakan untuk kegunaan lain. Salah satu kegunaan dari air terproduksi dengan temperature cukup tinggi ini adalah untuk pembangkit listrik dengan Siklus Rankine Organik (Organic Rankine Cycle / ORC).

Gagasan untuk penggunaan sumur ladang minyak tua untuk pembangkit listrik panas bumi telah lama dipelajari dan didiskusikan di seluruh penjuru dunia untuk mengurangi biaya operasi dari produksi minyak dan gas and untuk memperpankang usia dari ladang minyak yang mulai mendekati akhir masa produksi. Meskipun umumnya reservoir minyak dan gas tidak sepanas reservoir panas bumi konvensional, tetapi beberapa studi menyimpulkan bahwa pada beberapa sumur tua di Texas dan Wyoming memiliki kedalaman yang cukup dengan suhu mencapai 121°C, dan bahkan beberapa sumur dapat mencapai 210°C.

Air terproduksi dari sumur minyak harus melalui pengolahan terlebih dahulu sebelum diinjeksi kembali ke reservoir, dimana ketika lapangan minyak tersebut semakin tua, biasanya jumlah air terproduksi meningkat dan akhirnya produksi minyak akan menurun sampai ke titik di mana sumur sumur tersebut tidak lagi menghasilkan minyak dan hanya menghasilkan air.

Penulisan makalah ini bertujuan untuk merangkum pengalaman pengalaman penggunaan air terproduksi dari sumur minyak tua dengan temperature cukup tinggi di seluruh dunia untuk berbagai macam aplikasi seperti pembangkit listrik atau untuk penggunaan langsung (heat exchanger, pengeringan produk agrikultur, pemandian air panas, dll). Tinjauan pustaka dilakukan dari berbagai riset dan publikasi untuk mengulas teknologi yang dibutuhkan penggunaan penggunaan tersebut di atas dan juga potensi untuk penggunaan serupa di Indonesia.

Indonesia has many mature oilfields with high water-cut, where the produced water still has sufficient temperature that can be utilised for other purposes. One of possible utilisation of the sufficiently high-temperature water is for geothermal power generation through Organic Rankine Cycle binary power plant.

The idea of utilising oilfield wells for geothermal power generation has been discussed and studied to reduce the operating cost of oil and gas production and to extend the life of the mature oilfields. Commonly oil and gas reservoir are not as hot as conventional geothermal reservoir. However, several studies concluded that some old oil wells in Texas and Wyoming are deep enough to reach the temperatures of 121 °C (Xin, Liang, Hu, & Li, 2012), and even some of the wells reach 210 °C.

Oil well produced-water needs to be treated and reinjected back to reservoir, and as the oilfields become more mature, the amount of produced water is increasing as the oil production decrease (Xin, Liang, Hu, & Li, 2012; Soldo & Alimonti, 2015) until to the point where the oilfield is depleted and is not producing oil anymore, only water. This water by-product is often hot enough to power some binary ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) unit. Other potential applications are for direct use such as agriculture product drying/cultivation, thermal bathing, etc.

This paper aims to summarise the worldwide experience of utilising the hot produced water from mature oilfields for various purposes such as electricity generation or for direct use application (e.g. heat exchanger, agricultural heating/drying, etc.). A literature survey was conducted from various studies and published research review the technology required for these aforementioned application. The potential for such an application in Indonesia is also discussed.

Pengeboran adalah salah satu tahapan penting yang berdampak pada biaya proyek pengembangan panas bumi secara signifikan. Secara umum, risiko utama dalam pengembangan energi panas bumi, terutama di tahap eksplorasi, dapat dikategorikan menjadi dua. Risiko pertama adalah risiko yang terkait dengan sumber daya atau cadangan yang terkandung di dalam suatu reservoir panas bumi, di mana temperatur dan reservoir menjadi pertimbangan utama. Risiko kedua adalah berbagai risiko yang terkait dengan infrastruktur pendukung pengeboran, potensi masalah dalam operasi pengeboran, aspek lingkungan, dan masalah dengan masyarakat setempat. Tingkat berbagai risiko tersebut juga sangat dipengaruhi oleh biaya pengeboran di mana semakin tinggi biaya pengeboran yang dianggarkan maka semakin tinggi tingkat risiko proyek tersebut.

Suatu proyek pengembangan panas memiliki beberapa tahapan yaitu eksplorasi, evaluasi dan pengembangan. Setiap tahapan tersebut memiliki tujuan pengeboran yang bervariasi sehingga sering kali memerlukan strategi yang berbeda untuk meminimalkan risiko. Studi awal ini bertujuan untuk merangkum proses berpikir terhadap berbagai pertimbangan utama saat mengembangkan strategi pengeboran eksplorasi. Pertimbangan tersebut terutama didasarkan kepada faktor-faktor seperti keadaan bawah permukaan (sub-surface), lingkungan, biaya operasi pengeboran dan konstruksi infrastruktur pendukung. Materi penelitian didapatkan dari tinjauan pustaka dan pengalaman penulis. Hasil dari penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan pedoman generik dalam proses pengambilan keputusan dalam suatu proyek pengeboran eksplorasi panas bumi di Indonesia.

Indonesia adalah salah satu negara berkembang yang memiliki tidak hanya potensi sumber daya energi yang besar tapi juga laju pertumbuhan penduduk yang cukup tinggi. Untuk dapat memenuhi kebutuhan masyarakat dan industri, Indonesia memerlukan pasokan energi yang cukup besar di mana saat ini konsumsi energi Indonesia masih sangat tergantung pada sumber energi tidak terbarukan seperti minyak bumi, batu bara dan gas alam. Pemanfaatan bahan bakar fosil tersebut secara berkelanjutan berkontribusi terhadap peningkatan emisi gas rumah kaca dalam jumlah besar yang menuntun kepada perubahan iklim secara global.

Pemerintah Indonesia, melalui Peraturan Presiden Republik Indonesia Nomor 5 Tahun 2006, telah mencanangkan target untuk terwujudnya bauran energi yang optimal pada tahun 2025, di mana peran energi terbarukan terhadap konsumsi energi nasional menjadi 17%. Dalam komposisi energi terbarukan tersebut, sumber energi panas bumi mendapat porsi lebih dari 5%. Target bauran energi ini bertujuan untuk mewujudkan keamanan pasokan energi dalam negeri. Walaupun tidak secara tertulis menyebutkan adanya tujuan yang berhubungan dengan pengurangan dampak terhadap lingkungan, peningkatan bauran energi bersih akan mengurangi emisi rumah kaca di Indonesia.

Sayangnya, energi panas bumi sebagai salah satu sumber energi utama dalam kategori energi terbarukan belum dimanfaatkan secara optimal di negara ini. Sejak pembangkit listrik tenaga panas bumi pertama, Kamojang-1, diresmikan di tahun 1983 sampai dengan tahun 2017, Indonesia baru berhasil memanfaatkan energi panas bumi sekitar 6% dari total potensi nasional. Studi ini, melalui penelusuran pustaka, berusaha untuk merangkum berbagai tantangan yang dihadapi oleh negara Indonesia dalam mendorong pemanfaatan energi panas bumi untuk mencapai target pemerintah di tahun 2025. Studi ini juga berusaha untuk membuat berbagai alternatif solusi untuk dapat membantu mempercepat pengembangan energi panas bumi di Indonesia. 

Exploration phase has the highest uncertainty thus highest risk in a geothermal development project. Drilling cost is one of the critical components that significantly affect geothermal project development cost. In general, there are two major risks associated with drilling, consisting of resource risks and other risks. Resource risks are mainly associated with temperature and permeability. A robust conceptual model built from reliable data is necessary to assess both of resource risks and assist the well targeting process. Other risk are ones that related to regulation, drilling infrastructure, drilling operation issues, environmental aspect, and local community issue. The variation of drilling objectives in each stage of the project (exploration, appraisal, development) requires different strategies in order to minimize the associated risk and project cost.

This preliminary study aims to summarize the thinking process or main considerations when developing the exploration drilling strategy, which accommodate subsurface, environmental, drilling, construction perspectives based on literature reviews, and authors experience. This study also presents a generic guideline developed by the authors to assist the decision-making process in developing strategy in a geothermal exploration project in Indonesia.

Following the Paris Agreement on climate change, Indonesia has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 29-41% against the business as usual scenario by 2030. In addition, Indonesia also has been encouraged to boost its national energy security and independence. To accomplish these targets, the Government of Indonesia has embarked on various attempts as emphasized in the National Energy Plan by increasing the use of renewable energy, especially from geothermal energy sources. However, the significant capital costs and risks have caused geothermal projects less attractive and more challenging. The cost of drilling dominates the proportion of the overall project investment cost, including long-lead items such as casing pipes.

In the Indonesian geothermal industry, the developers have been encouraged to source the components from local manufacturers to increase the competitiveness between the domestic manufacturing industry and to minimize transportation costs. In contrast, some geothermal developers, which are financed by international funding institutions, are required to do international bidding as required in the procurement guidelines in order to give a wide choice of selection. Therefore, the international bidding requirements necessitate importing finished casing pipes into Indonesia. Inaccurate decisions during procurement processes, especially for casing pipes, could lead to major operational issues and costs in the future.

This research aims at getting a deep understanding of how different funding sources can give impacts to long-lead items procurement, especially casing pipes, in geothermal development projects in Indonesia. The paper also investigates the challenges and opportunities that come with the use of local content. The research of local content for long-lead items on Indonesia geothermal drilling procurement has been limited. Thus, the presence of this paper intends to fill the gaps in the field.

Indonesia has an established petroleum industry dates back from 1870 when the first oil well drilled in Majalengka. The long history of petroleum exploration and production in Indonesia has resulted in an established petroleum industry with a lot of local expert. Thus, a wide availability of expert and professional in petroleum industry can be utilized to support government goal for Indonesia development, such as geothermal energy development.

Government of Indonesia (GoI) is planning to increase the installed capacity of geothermal power plant installed capacity from currently about 1,900 MW into 7241 MW in 2025 (RUEN, 2017). Jennejohn (2010) calculated that it needs 4.25 full-time positions and 16 person-years for one megawatt electricity generated from geothermal. Therefore, with the addition of four-fold capacity, the number of personnel needs of staffs and experts in the field of geothermal will require approximately 22,699 jobs with 85,456 person-year employment. The drillers and crew are among those workforces besides geoscientists, engineers, hydrologists and operations personnel which must be prepared before starting a geothermal project (Smillie et al., 2015).

The geothermal drilling manpower needs can be obtained from new job candidate training or transfer from related industries. Many of the workforces in the Indonesian geothermal drilling indeed come from the petroleum drilling because of many similarities on technology and equipment. However, these workforces tend to apply the same approach to oil and gas in the geothermal industry due to some similarities in the drilling process despite there are some fundamental differences between the two. Thus, such approach might create problem in the future, both in drilling safety and operational concern. This paper aim to highlight the existing drilling professional skills in petroleum industry and the adjustment need for geothermal drilling. This paper also aims to provide suggestion in which area the current geothermal drilling skills are lacking and can be improved to help the GoI achieves its target.