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Press Release: NewQuest Geotechnology Anniversary Day - A Ten Years of Contributions

Monday, 25 of October 2021

On Saturday, 23 of October 2021, PT NewQuest Geotechnology (NQ) held “NQ 10 Years Anniversary Day” virtually with several agenda consist of NQ Special Talkshow entitled “Geothermal Technology Innovations: A Perspective from the Past, Present, and Future”, NQ Books and Software Launching, as well as Winner Announcement of several NQ Competitions. This event is the culmination of the series of events “NQ 10 Years Anniversary - A Ten Years of Contributions” and was attended by more than 250 participants from various institutions including government agencies, industry, academia, and public society.

In his remarks, Director of Geothermal, Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (NREEC), Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Harris Yahya, M.T. convey that Indonesia has a geothermal potential of 23.7 GW spread over 357 locations and has been developed of 2.175 GW or around 9%. The government is very serious about geothermal development by establishing target of installed capacity of 9.3 GW in 2035. In Master Plan of Power Supply (RUPTL) 2021-2030, geothermal development is planned to be 3.355 GW of the total 20.9 GW of New and Renewable Energy (NRE) development. This additional plan could be bigger due to the plan to increase the target for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and “phase out” 1 GW Coal Power Plant until 2030.

The development of NRE including geothermal which is paralleled with the reduction in the use of fossil energy, performs 3 functions at once, namely: increasing the portion of NRE in the energy mix, reducing GHG emissions in the context of implementing the Paris Agreement, and towards “Net Zero Emission” which is a global consensus.

Furthermore, Harris said that geothermal development is always faced with business risks, especially in the early stage (exploration). Exploration, which only costs 1-2% of the total project cost, must be carried out optimally, because it will determine the success of drilling whose costs range from 30-60% of the total cost.

The latest of NREEC data shows that the drilling success ratio ranges from 33-67% with an average output of 4-6 MW/well. With the demand for more affordable electricity prices, the geothermal exploration stage must be more reliable and accurate in proving geothermal reserves and drilling activities must also be more effective and efficient.

The existence of PT NewQuest Geotechnology, which has resources discovery of more than 3 GW in 43 GWA, is very helpful for the national geothermal development, Harris greatly appreciates all NQ’s contributions to geothermal development through its exploration services, researches to improve the "drilling success ratio", and human resource development through various NQ Academy activities.

On the same occasion, Prijandaru Effendi, M.Eng., President of the Indonesia Geothermal Association (INAGA), congratulated and hoped that NQ's contribution would continue until all of the Indonesia's geothermal potential is converted into electricity.

Prijandaru continued that since the operation of the first Geothermal Power Plant (GPP) in Indonesia, namely Kamojang-1 in 1983 until now, the total installed capacity is 2,175 MW, meaning that the average addition of national GPP capacity is only about 70 MW/year. This is a slow development rate. Meanwhile, GPP is very sustainable, available 24/7 or the availability factor is very high compared to other NRE plants, thereby contributing to the maximum reduction of GHG emissions.

"Why are investors less enthusiastic lately?". Prijandaru explained that there is a problem that is still being sought for a solution, it is the price disparity between the developers’ "expectation prices" based on the economy and the purchasing ability of PLN as the off-taker. We know that PLN sells electricity below the economic price. The smaller the capacity of the geothermal power plant developed, the greater the price disparity.

There are 2 recommendations to overcome this problem, first is the support of the government in form of incentives or subsidies and the second is technological breakthroughs and this is the developer's job. Prijandaru closed his speech with the hope that these innovation, technology and other breakthroughs could be monetized and proposed to the government, so that geothermal could be developed at a more competitive price.

In his speech, the Founder of NQ, Dr. Yunus Daud expressed his gratitude for NQ's achievements and contributions in its first decade of operation, thanking all those who have supported it so far. Next Dr. Yunus Daud, invites all geothermal stakeholders to work and manage geothermal which is a "Special Gift from the Almighty God" by using proper technology and methodology, so that geothermal energy can be maintained as renewable, sustainable and environmentally friendly, and can be inherited to the generation of our children and grandchildren.

At the end of his speech, Dr. Yunus Daud presented 3 recommendations for improving geothermal development and management: first, research collaboration between government, industry and universities; second, preparation, management, and utilization of geothermal database; and third, full effort and prudence in carrying out “the government drilling” which has just started.

The “NQ 10 Years Anniversary Day” event continued with the soft launching of the latest NQ software, namely “GeoSlicer-X” which is developed based on Python platform, which is able to optimally visualize the subsurface conditions both Geoscience and Engineering data, and also the launching of two NQ’s books namely: NQ Special Publications: One Decade of NQ – A Ten-Years Contribution for the Nation and NQ Best Practice: Magnetotelluric Technology for Geothermal Exploration.

The event closed with the announcement of the winners of the various competitions: Geothermal Photo & Video Competition, Geoscientific Software Developer Competition and Young Geothermal Explorationist Competition.

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About PT NewQuest Geotechnology

NewQuest Geotechnology (NQ) is a geothermal services company that has been contributing to the development of geothermal energy for 10 years. Since its establishment in 2011, NQ has been actively involved in the development of more than 50 geothermal areas in Indonesia and Malaysia with a total resource discovery of more than 3 GW. In September 2020, NQ received an award from the Indonesian Geologist Association (IAGI) as The Best Geothermal Exploration Service Company in assisting the discovery of geothermal exploration, technology development, and human resource development.

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Monday, 25 of October 2021

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