Indonesian president opens world's geothermal congress
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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened on Monday the fourth world's geothermal congress in Nusa Dua, Bali, local media reported.
The congress, with a theme of "Geothermal: Energy to change the world," was attended by foreign dignitaries, including Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimson.
The Indonesian government has pledged a commitment to invest 12 million U.S. dollars to build up geothermal power plants with total capacity of 3,977 Mega Watt (MW) that would be part of its second-phase fast-track power plant project with a total capacity of 10,000 MW.
According to Indonesian Economy Coordinating Minister Hatta Radjasa, the congress was very important for Indonesia that has 40 percent of the world's geothermal deposit.
The congress, which would last till April 30, was participated by 2,500 people from 80 countries, among which 25 have already been operating geothermal power plants.
Indonesia has explored 14 percent of its total geothermal deposit and generates a total capacity of 1,198 MW of electricity, the Antara news agency reported.
Hatta said that the Indonesian government has drafted a plan to increase the use of geothermal energy up to 5 percent from national power plant capacity, or equals to 9,500 MW, by 2025.
