Indonesian government has announced a commitment of IDR1trillion ($302m) to finance the exploration program aimed at geothermal resources in the country.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Finance Ministry chairman Saritaon Siregar said the local governments that have geothermal resources can secure the fund to identify their potential.
"If exploration shows good results, the local government can put the area for bidding and investors that win can repay the exploration funds to us," Siregar added.
Although the ministry has not commenced fund allotment, private investors are also made eligible to secure the loans for geothermal exploration.
According to the energy and mineral resources ministry, Indonesian geothermal power capacity of 1,341MW is 5% of country’s total potential energy, which is estimated at 29,038MW.