Columns of steam shoot from the ground at an Indonesian power plant sitting in the shadow of an active volcano, as energy is tapped from the red-hot underbelly of the archipelago.
Pipes zigzag up rugged mountainsides covered in tea plantations, carrying steam from below the surface to power enormous, electricity-generating turbines at the Wayang Windu facility on Java island.
Indonesia, a seismically-active island chain studded with scores of volcanoes, holds an estimated 40 per cent of the world’s geothermal energy reserves, but has long lagged behind in its use of the renewable power source.
Now the government is pushing to expand the sector fivefold in the next decade, although the challenges are huge in a country where the burden of red tape remains onerous, big projects are often delayed and targets missed.
“The potential is tremendous,” said Rully Wirawan, field manager at Wayang Windu. “The current government is trying to tackle the challenges so I believe the development of the sector will be better in future.”
