Covid-19’s Impacts on Geothermal Drilling Projects in Indonesia

Abstract

The Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly to more than 200 countries around the world. This does not only raise challenges towards public health but also agitates other sectors, including the energy industry. The economic slowdown and quarantine practices contribute to large impacts on the energy sector, including geothermal.
The continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly seen in the movement restrictions by most governments around the world, including in Indonesia. Thus, this will inevitably cause the geothermal sector to experience more postponed projects.
Drilling is one of the biggest cost contributors to build a geothermal power station with up to 34% of the total project cost. Identifying the market price for drilling material and services is very important. It will allow us to get information about the market status to calculate the total well cost. However, the market survey that has been conducted in 2019 might differ from the current actual price due to COVID-19’s impact. Therefore, it will affect the geothermal project cost in total.
This paper aims at discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the current geothermal drilling cost and the latest market survey in Indonesia. There has been very limited research of COVID-19’s impact on the Indonesia geothermal drilling projects. Thus, the presence of this paper intends to fill the gap in the field.