Indonesia expects over 200MW of geothermal capacity to come online this year

Thanks to the first 110MW of the Sarulla geothermal plant.

According to BMI Research's geothermal capacity forecast for 2017, the US is the largest market for installed geothermal capacity, followed by the Philippines and then Indonesia.

However, it expects Indonesia to emerge as the largest geothermal market globally by 2019, as investor interest in the sector ticks up and the project pipeline strengthens accordingly.

In fact, progress in the commissioning of projects - including the first 110-megawatt (MW) unit of the 320.8MW Sarulla geothermal power plant - means that over 200MW of geothermal capacity is expected to come online over the course of 2017.

Here's more from BMI Research:

Over the longer term we expect Indonesia's geothermal capacity to increase from 1,850MW in 2017 to just over 3GW by the end of our forecast period in 2026.

In contrast to Indonesia's robust growth outlook, the geothermal sector of the US and the Philippines will register much smaller expansions. Policy uncertainty and a lack of supportive regulations in the US are likely to leave the geothermal sector struggling to gain momentum, while other renewable energy technologies expand. Furthermore, there is a lack of funding available to finance exploration and drilling programmes.

The US Geological Survey and the Department of Energy used to share the costs of exploration drilling; however, this ended under the Bush administration and is yet to be re-established.

In the Philippines, growth will be limited as nearly all the proven reserves have been commercialised, and because most of the unexploited and unproven reserves are located in relatively inaccessible areas, making development difficult and costly.