Points of Amendment to Regulation 7/2017 on Geothermal Energy

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (“ ESDM ”) is currently preparing a Draft Regulation on the Amendment to (“ Draft Regulation ”) Regulation of the Government No. 7 of 2017 on Geothermal Energy for Indirect Utilization (“ Regulation 7/2017 ”). According to Head of the Legal Coordination Division at the Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation (Energi Baru Terbarukan dan Konservasi Energi/EBTKE) Yoga Marantika, the current discussion process will enter the Inter-Ministerial Committee (Panitia Antar Kementerian- “ PAK ”) stage, with the regulation expected to be finalized by October this year.

“This Regulation or Presidential Regulation requires a formal requirement, namely the holding of an inter-ministerial committee forum, which is still being coordinated by us at ESDM,” explained Yoga.

Yoga explained that the amendment to the Regulation will cover up to 50 percent of the provisions. Regarding the affected Regulation of the Minister, Yoga confirmed that the Regulation of the Minister on auction provisions will be the most affected. In addition to auctions, the Draft Regulation also details the conditions for temporary suspension, whether due to sanctions or application from business entities.

“This temporary suspension is ambiguous between sanctions and the application. We may later seek alternative terms or terminology related to the applied temporary suspension,” he added.