Dorman Purba

• Master of Energy
• Technical Advisor / Senior Researcher at Enerka

The development of geothermal energy as a clean and sustainable energy source in Indonesia faces significant challenges due to the high costs associated with drilling. This paper provides a detailed analysis of geothermal drilling costs in Indonesia by examining actual and historical data from various projects. The study addresses the difficulties...

Indonesia has set an ambitious target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, with geothermal energy slated to play a pivotal role in this transition. Despite ranking as the world's second-largest geothermal producer, boasting a potential capacity of 23 GW, current utilization stands at a mere 2.3 GW, representing only 10% of the total potential. Th...

The selection of an appropriate drilling rig is crucial for the success of geothermal exploration projects, as it directly influences both operational efficiency and cost. This paper delves into the critical factors and decision-making criteria for selecting drilling rigs in the context of geothermal exploration, emphasizing the importance of makin...

The direct application/direct use of geothermal energy involves using the heat energy from the Earth's interior immediately, bypassing the need to convert it into electricity or other energy forms. This approach to harnessing geothermal energy is increasingly recognized for its sustainability and renewable nature, offering a promising solution to d...

Indonesia plans to increase the geothermal power plant installed capacity to 5,700 MW in 2030, more than double the current capacity. This accelerated development plan will put geothermal stakeholders in a dilemma, whether to directly develop the field on a large scale or staged manner. Directly developing geothermal fields on a large scale gener...

Indonesia's low-medium temperature geothermal potential, specifically in the 160°C to 200°C temperature range, presents an attractive opportunity for geothermal energy development. Several geothermal sites, like Ulubelu, Kotamobagu, Cisolok-Cisukarame, and Rantau Dedap, exhibit diverse characteristics such as outflow systems and fault-controlled sy...

Indonesia is ranked as the second-largest geothermal energy producer globally, with a potential resource of 24 GW. However, the country has only utilized a meager 2.356 MW, equivalent to roughly 10% of its total potential. In line with this, the Government of Indonesia has set a target to significantly increase its geothermal utilization for power...

Indonesia has been known as one of the largest geothermal energy potentials which are currently in the effort to accelerating geothermal development to meet with target of renewable energy in the Indonesia energy mix, to boost this program, exploratio n project would become main program of Government of Indonesia to achieve the targets. Geothermal...

Geothermal project development can only be reached when most affected stakeholders support the project. This may include the geothermal developer, local community, local government, central government or policy makers, the offtake purchaser, and mass media. It is widely known that it is not easy in Indonesia to get support from local communities, w...

The 2030 national target of Indonesia geothermal energy development will boost many drilling activities in various geothermal prospects, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia. In some cases, geothermal developers in Indonesia, when planning drilling operations, are too focused on rig equipment and well construction and tend to simplify matter...

Geothermal energy can be utilized for other direct use applications such as bathing, heating, drying agriculture products, and tourism objects. As one of the countries with vast geothermal energy potential, Indonesia can take advantage of its geothermal energy resources for both indirect and direct use. Unfortunately, geothermal direct use applicat...

The current conventional geothermal power generation typically involves the extraction of geothermal fluid from the subsurface to the production facility on the surface. Therefore, a commercial geothermal production well needs to encounter high enough temperature, benign fluid, and sufficient permeability to allow the geothermal fluid to flow. Howe...

Keywords: thermodynamic analysis, organic rankine cycle, kalina cycle, back pressure turbine, levelized cost of electricity. ABS TRACT Binary cycle using Organic Rankine Cycle or Kalina Cycle System has been applied in geothermal and some other industrial processes to recover waste energy to generate electricity. Two units of the power plants in Fl...

Drilling is one of the most significant cost contributors in oil and gas or geothermal projects. Therefore, geothermal developers should plan thoroughly and adequately monitor the drilling cost to optimize the entire geothermal development cost. Many previous studies have argued that drilling teams can achieve cost optimization when the risk mitiga...

Geothermal for power generation offers clean and reliable energy compared to other renewable energy such as solar and wind. However, its sustainability is depending on how the reservoir was managed during exploitation. Improper field management strategy may lead to rapidly declining reservoir pressure and production. Devising a proper field and r...

ABS TRACT Indonesia has announced that it aims to reach net zero emissions target by 2060. Geothermal energy, as a clean and low-carbon sustainable energy source with abundant reserves is critical for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging energy structure transformation. Geothermal energy campaign was usually as clean energy because t...

In recent years, public awareness of using clean and renewable energy, such as geothermal, in a more significant portion is starting to increase. Indonesia is one of the countries that have the most considerable geothermal energy potential, but it has yet to be utilized optimally. The Government of Indonesia aims to achieve 5,486 M We geothermal en...

The global increase of carbon emissions needs to be reduced to keep incremental global warming below 2 degrees. However, in the last decades, Indonesia’s energy supply and demand have been highly dependent on fossil fuels, contributing to high carbon emissions. Most of the non-renewable energy demand comes from transportation and electrification. W...

Starting at Kamojang Field, the application of slimhole well for geothermal exploration drilling in Indonesia was executed in the 1920s. This implementation was only considerably carried out around the 1920s-1990s. For the past 20 years, slimhole drilling has been infrequent to be executed in Indonesia. Lack of uncertainty and risk of exploration d...

Indonesia is one of the countries that has the largest geothermal energy potential in the world that can be managed to achieve energy security targets in the future. The first recorded geothermal energy discussion in Indonesia was during the Dutch colonial rule, in 1918, by J.Z. van Dijk, which most likely lead to the geothermal exploration project...

Drilling is one of the key activities on geothermal and petroleum projects that could face hazards such as kick and blowout. Those conditions are hazardous to the equipment and personnel on the drilling site, thus the drilling personnel should be prepared to apply any well control technique to prevent the kick becoming blowout. The current conditio...

Government of Indonesia through RUPTL 2021 targets to have around 5,700 M W of geothermal power plant installed capacity in 2030, more than double its current installed capacity. The resource areas are spread throughout the country, and a big part of them is greenfield areas without prior detailed exploration. A low cost and fit for purpose explora...

As the world today has entered the phase of global warming, many countries agreed to work together to fight this through United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Through its convention, Paris Agreement was held in 2015 and all the countries listed should deliver their contributions in the form of commitment to reducing greenh...

Indonesia is in the process of increasing geothermal energy utilization in its energy mix. The identified challenges considered by many lies in the exploration phase since most of geothermal prospect in Indonesia has not yet been explored properly. Obviously, in doing exploration activities, any geothermal developers will have to deal with land acq...

Most of the non-renewable energy demand comes from transportation and electrification, which, in drilling activity, is produced by diesel engines for mobilization, drilling operation and site electrification. Carbon emissions reduction is part of the policy of several giant energy companies to achieve net-zero emissions to support environmental s...

Indonesia oil and gas production is insufficient to cover domestic oil and gas demands. The government of Indonesia has launched the program with a target of 1 million barrels of oil per day (BOPD) for crude oil and 12 billion cubic feet per day (BCFPD) for natural gas by 2030 through a massive exploration program as one of the effort to increase t...

It is widely known that drilling costs are one of the largest cost components in a geothermal development project. The drilling costs may increase significantly when the drilling days become prolonged due to many non-productive-time (NPT) event. Since geothermal drilling targets lost circulation zones at reservoir depth, the chance of getting stuck...

Indonesia, as one of the countries with the biggest potential for geothermal energy in the world, is currently trying to increase geothermal energy utilization from installed capacity of 1,700 MW to 7000 MW in 2025. One of the challenges identified in developing geothermal energy in Indonesia is the lack of skilled labor or experts to run a geother...

In developing a geothermal exploration strategy, as mentioned in many scientific publications, the selection of resource assessment methods become very crucial due to the high uncertainty level of this stage. Of the various resource assessment methods available in the industry today, the volumetric method is the most often used in Indonesia during...

Indonesian geology that is formed by a complex of tectonic plate settings, subduction processes and lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire are not only give a vast geothermal energy potential but also high risk of geohazard that could occurs during geothermal exploration and development activities. Failure in identifying risks of geohazard in early ph...

In developing geothermal energy as one of the backbones of renewable energy in Indonesia's energy mix, all stakeholders' participation and collaboration are required. The level of involvement will most likely be influenced by the level of energy literacy education, which might be implemented through formal and informal education. The initial questi...

As a country that sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia has become the second largest geothermal power producer in the world. Geothermal energy is a clean-renewable energy that can help the country in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and secure its electricity supply in the future. Through Rencana Umum Energi Nasional (RUEN), government of I...

Drilling is one of the major cost components in geothermal exploration and development. Effective and cost-efficient drilling significantly contribute to the success of geothermal development. Key factors in reducing drilling costs are optimising operations, utilising manpower to its fullest potential, and also benchmarking with other drilling acti...

Project management software such as Microsoft Project or Oracle Primavera is commonly used in civil or Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) project. However, it is not that common to find the project management software to be fully utilized for a drilling project. This paper describes the common features of project management software,...

Indonesia is currently the second largest geothermal installed capacity in the world, with around 1948,5 MW installed capacity. However, this achievement is still far from the Indonesian Government’s target of 7000 MW installed capacity in 2025. Thus, it requires a lot of efforts, supporting policies, and a great deal of competent human resources t...

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 pen...

Indonesia is currently the second largest geothermal installed capacity in the world, with around 1948,5 MW installed capacity. However, this achievement is still far from the Indonesian Government’s target of 7000 MW installed capacity in 2025. Thus, it requires a lot of efforts, supporting policies, and a great deal of competent human resources t...

Indonesia has vast geothermal energy potential, estimated at around 27,000 MWe or about 40% of world geothermal reserves (IEA, 2008). However, up to 2017, Indonesia’s geothermal power plant installed capacity was only 1,805 MWe or 6% of this estimated potential. To keep up with high growth of electricity demand while trying to reduce the use of fos...

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 util...

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 sumb...

Drilling is one of the critical components that significantly impact 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 necessar...

One of the challenge identified in developing geothermal energy in Indonesia is the rejection by local community that can lead to significant delay in project delivery, especially in early phase of exploration. The current common practices by many geothermal developers in Indonesia to engage local community are by holding socialization event, and i...

One of the challenge identified in developing geothermal energy in Indonesia is the rejection by local community that can lead to significant delay in project delivery, especially in early phase of exploration. The current common practices by many geothermal developers in Indonesia to engage local community are by holding socialization event, and i...

The uncertainty associated with natural geothermal resource in the subsurface is always recognized as the biggest risk in geothermal project, especially in the early exploration phase. This high risk mainly caused by the significant up-front drilling cost combined with insufficient information to properly plan the exploration well target. In Indone...

One of the challenges in exploration drilling activities in the geothermal field is that the local communities have not been educated on the impact of geothermal activities to development the environment and social. In Sorik Marapi field, the majority of local people still consider that drilling activities are responsible in increasing noise level,...

This paper discusses conceptual geothermal model of the Sorik Marapi area that is based on 3-G (Geology, Geochemistry and Geophysics) survey data includes: geometry, fluid characteristic, temperature and geological-structural setting. This model is aimed to predict potential power resource and for drilling exploration planning. The survey activity...

The result of the research shows that as the age of an oil field increases, the water produced raise. The produced water can be disposed after fulfilling the standard for liquid waste according to the Environmental Ministry Decree: Kep.42/MENLH/10/1996, 9 October 1996 regarding the standard of liquid waste from oil, gas and earth heat activity. Thi...