Priority and urgency between geothermal and solar photovoltaic in Indonesia’s electricity power generation

Indonesia has a large and varied potential for renewable energy. As a country on the equator, every location in Indonesia is exposed to sunlight throughout the year, therefore Indonesia has plenty of solar energy potential. In terms of geothermal energy resources, Indonesia is also located in the ring of fire which surrounds the Pacific Ocean, with plenty of rock that can supply such energy in the huge potential amount. Both solar and geothermal energy have different characteristics and challenges, and different technological comparison and related policy for each energy type. Geothermal Power Plant (GPP) business is emphasised on drilling work, which is associated to the same risky exploration of oil and gas sector. This highly risky exploration cost is the main decisive factor to invest. GPP is operated to serve base load due to its high capacity factor. Meanwhile Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant (SPP) could be installed and operated in relatively short time, but the price of electrical energy storage for compensating its low capacity factor, could make the investment cost soars. This paper uses SWOT to assess the conditions of GPP and SPP. Policy Gap Analysis is also used for assessing the lack of regulations for GPP and SPP. Policy Gap Analysis review is based on trilemma energy and business model canvassing for firm’s strategies. Based on the differences and characteristics of both energy resources, this paper aims to assess the feasibility of GPP by comparing it to SPP in order to define the most feasible way to conduct GPP and SPP with the urgency and priority criteria upon SWOT and Policy Gap Analysis.