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Indonesia to Expand
Geothermal Use to Power Regional Development Across the Country |
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Indonesia
has arguably the world's greatest geothermal potential, followed by Iceland,
and possesses significant coal bed methane resources as well as hydro
potential in respect of renewable energy. However, Indonesia is also amongst
the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Around 85 percent of these
emissions result from land use issues: agricultural practices, land use
methods and land use changes in forest and peat-land areas. Indonesia's
Copenhagen Accord commitments include a voluntary 26 per cent reduction in
emissions by 2020 with no baseline year identified. Indonesia has identified
the potential for an additional 15-16 per cent reduction in emissions with
the support of other parties, being a possible total reduction of 40-41 per
cent by 2020. In terms of the Clean Development Mechanism, Indonesia has
some 48 projects registered by the CDM Executive Board
Indonesia,
has already 1,189MW of installed geothermal capacity out of government
identified total geothermal resources of 28,453 MW. The Indonesian
Government plans to increase capacity by 250% to 2,897 MW by 2014 with a
further doubling by 2025. The plan will be supported by just announced
US$1.8bn of development grants ($300m) and lending ($1.5bn) from The Climate
Investment Funds of the ADB, World Bank, EBRD, AfDB and IADB as well as
grants from UNDP, USTAD and AusAid. The focus of much of the development of
geothermal energy is to provide power to regional cities and centres beyond
existing base-load capacity supplying the grid on Java servicing the larger
cities. Favourable power tariffs, long PPAs and the availability of carbon
credits makes investment attractive for commercial investors alongside
Government action.
The
development of geothermal is in the context of The National Action Plan
Addressing Climate Change prepared in 2007 (the NAP), which is a general
guide to be used by multiple Indonesian institutions to provide for a
co-ordinated and integrated approach to addressing climate change. The NAP
is referred to as a "dynamic policy instrument". It is supported by Ministry
policies, for example the Ministry of Public Works recently released
National Action Plan on Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change specific
to Public Works which includes policies, strategies and programs to lower
impacts of climate change in the public works sector. The NAP lists the
regulatory efforts to be implemented for tackling climate change in
categories including short–term and long-term implementation.
Panax, a
Brisbane-based, ASX listed company has two joint venture projects in
Indonesia at Skoria on Flores and Dairi Prima on Sumatra which are to
deliver 30MW in Flores to the regional centre of Ende to replace diesel
powered generators, and 6MW for off-grid power for underground mining
operations at Dairi Prima in Sumatra. Panax, one of a number of Australian
companies developing projects in Indonesia, uses the commercially and
technologically proven Hot Aquifer geothermal power production process.
Panax has geothermal operations in South Australia, Indonesia and India. |
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German
Solar – Too Much of A Good Thing? |
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Until the
recent reduction of its feed-in tariff, Germany provided some of the most
generous solar incentives in the world. In July 2010 the German Government
announced that it was cutting the feed-in tariff (FIT) for solar, and was
also considering a hard cap on installation levels. As part of the review
of Germany's renewable law (EEG) next year further cuts in the FIT may
occur. Since 2000, when the FIT program was created, the global solar market
has climbed from 170 MW of installations per year to 17,000 MW installed in
2010. Around 70% of total global installations have been in Germany. Over 60
countries, provinces or municipalities have followed the German FIT model
for stimulating the adoption of renewable energy.
In October
2010, Stephan Kohler, the head of the German energy agency, DENA, stated
that the rapid solar build-up threatened to overwhelm the country's power
grid. He proposed capping the amount of new solar that could be added each
year at 1,000 MW, or around 10% of the capacity in place as of the end of
2009. The problem that Herr Kohler identified is rooted in the large
disparity between the average and peak output of solar panels installed in
high latitudes and under Germany's notoriously cloudy skies. On average,
every MW of solar capacity installed in Germany generates only about 100 kW
over the course of the year. If that were a constant, it would be a lot
easier for grid managers to accommodate. However, that capacity generates
nothing at night, while still putting 1 MW into the grid at noon on a bright
summer day. This large difference, or swing in capacity, affects how much
backup capacity must be available to the grid and how much other capacity
must be taken offline as solar output ramps up daily and seasonally. While
in a sunny location it might suffice to keep a few "peaking" gas turbines on
standby--a role that might even be filled by electricity storage in the
future--in a place as un-sunny as Germany it requires substantial capacity
capable of running economically on standby for many hours a day, week after
week. It is possible that Germany may even need to import power from
elsewhere in Europe to address the gap, including from France which is
predominately nuclear.
The German
experience demonstrates one of the unintended consequences for connecting
solar, wind or tidal renewable generation capacity to the grid – without
energy storage then standby generation capability is required, the cost of
which is passed back to consumers as part of the cost of “going green”.
Although generally very sunny compared to Germany, Queensland generators
will none-the-less need to creatively address both storage and standby
generation issues when connecting both domestic and commercial scale solar
or wind generation capability. Western Australia is considering using a
wind-powered pumped storage solution for standby hydro-generation to offset
the swing effect caused by its significant wind generation capability having
too little wind or tripping out off grid when there is too much wind. |
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