As the climate crisis worsens, the world is busy building renewable energy power plants. The need for energy sources that are sustainable and low in carbon emissions has become a necessity. Some countries believe that of the many energy sources, geothermal is one that is considered to meet these criteria. Indonesia is one of the countries that is busy and believes that the development of geothermal as renewable energy is considered a solution to the climate crisis.
It is as if geothermal is the solution to the current climate crisis, and we fail to realize that the journey of turning geothermal into electricity is obtained from an extractive process that requires considerable resources. Even in the development process, it often leads to conflicts of interest with local communities. Stories of crop failure, groundwater pollution, loss of endemic biodiversity, earthquakes, and more tragically, the deaths of local residents caused by toxic gases from pipeline explosions, have revealed the dark side of geothermal power plants. Its existence seems to unmask the falsehoods that are often heralded by the government as the solution to today’s climate crisis.
Instead of conducting an in-depth evaluation and learning from the mistakes that have often been made, the government still insists and believes that PLTP is very low in emissions and continues to try to continue the project and the development of the existing PLTP. In fact, during the process of building power plants and surface installations up to the operational process, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can reach a quantity equivalent to coal power plant emissions. This means the claim of PLTP without GHG emissions is not proven as a solution.
Based on what the Enter Nusantara team has done in several geothermal development sites, many communities have been affected by geothermal development, ranging from environmental, social, and financial aspects. As experienced by the Dieng community in Central Java, many farmers have failed to harvest due to the PLTP operated by PT Geo Dipa Energi (Persero); the quality of water around residents’ homes has decreased since the number of drilling activities, the water
The Dieng geothermal plant is the second geothermal project in Indonesia. The first project started in 1978, the 25 MegaWatt (MW) Monoblock in Kamojang, West Java. Located in the Dieng plateau, Central Java, the project utilizes geothermal energy from volcanic activity in the area. The Dieng geothermal power plant is managed by PT Geo Dipa Energi, a company that focuses on geothermal energy development in Indonesia.
Dieng is known as one of the main agricultural areas, especially for horticultural crops such as potatoes and cabbage. The construction of geothermal power plants and industrial activities around farmlands have degraded the quality of soil and water and reduced agricultural productivity, which in turn impacts the economy of local farmers.
Fahman, a farmer whose farming area is not far from the Geo Dipa area, about 500 meters away, has checked the water flow from the pump machine to irrigate the fields. At the location Fahman encountered, there was a sharp, pungent odor. It smelled like gas from an LPG cylinder mixed with rotten eggs. On the path, the water flowed already pitch black and oily; Fahman complained that his agricultural area often experienced drought due to geothermal development.
Geothermal development requires a very large amount of water supply. A 2020 study, published by Rigsis Energy Indonesia, estimated the water demand for Geo Dipa’s wells at 2,322 cubic meters. This number includes the requirement that existing water reserves have a capacity of 300% of total demand.
A study conducted by Walhi Central Java together with the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) estimates that geothermal activities require as much as 40 liters of water per second, or around 6,500 to 15,000 liters, to produce every 1 MW of electricity.
For comparison, if a household with four family members consumes an average of 644 liters of water per day, then the amount of water used in this process is equivalent to the daily needs of 10 to 23 households.
In addition to requiring a large amount of water supply, geothermal exploitation activities also have the potential to pollute water sources around wells and power plants. One of the risks of pollution occurs in the fracking process, which is when high-pressure water mixed with chemicals is injected into the rock layers in the earth’s core (Rowfer).
In the end, these geothermal projects only benefit large companies that are incentivized by the government. In the end, the government is not serious in responding to solutions to the climate crisis. This geothermal project does not reflect the principle of equitable development.
In the geothermal development in Dieng, Central Java. The government took away the rights of local communities. Many local communities suffered losses from this development. The government must reconsider the ecological and social sides related to geothermal.
