Java farmers vow to live under own steam as geothermal project falters

PADARINCANG, Indonesia — On a white-hot afternoon in June, people from Padarincang subdistrict gathered near a mountain lake to recite an istighosah, an Islamic prayer blended with Indigenous context here in Indonesia’s Banten province.

“We aren’t asking anything from the government,” Eha Suhaeni, a mother from Padarincang, told Mongabay Indonesia. “We want to live in peace: What’s important is that we are left alone.”

For 15 years, the community has resisted efforts to drill beneath the land here, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital.

“We were sound asleep when we were woken up at 3:30 a.m. by heavy equipment,” Eha recalled.

The target of the demonstration is not a mine or a plantation. Instead, it is a form of renewable energy that emits virtually zero greenhouse gas emissions and produces reliable, cheap electricity.

For more than 15 years, the Padarincang community has rejected the construction of a 110-megawatt-capacity geothermal station on the slope of Mount Parakasak here on the island of Java.

Developer PT Sintesa Banten Geothermal began work in 2015, six years after Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources zoned the area for renewables. However, the company downed tools in 2018 following active objections by the community.

The firm is a subsidiary of the Sintesa Group, a sprawling conglomerate founded by the late Indonesian oligarch Eka Tjipta Widjaja and run today by his granddaughter Shinta Widjaja Kamdani.

Steam punk

An abundance of untapped renewable energy lies underneath Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, amounting to almost half the world’s resources, by some estimates. The potential power could generate an estimated 29 gigawatts, enough to power 500 million homes.

Geothermal energy involves drilling a well and directing steam produced from the heat of the Earth’s crust to a turbine. This generates electricity at near-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the reality is more complicated, owing to project financing and environmental difficulties. Exploring geothermal sites involves risky, expensive drilling that may not yield a viable well, while much of the archipelago’s geothermal resources are located in protected forest areas.

Despite geothermal’s profile as a clean energy solution, early development in Indonesia was derailed by a currency crash wrought by the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98. The national grid’s bias toward cheaper tariffs for plentiful coal power and policy inertia have undermined the sector ever since.

Despite some exceptions, progress in installing geothermal energy has remained on a slow boil over the last decade.

In 2017, the first unit of the vast 330-megawatt capacity Sarulla facility in West Sumatra province came online, thanks to financial guarantees by the Asian Development Bank. Older facilities in West Java province, such as Wayang Windu, continue to draw the Earth’s energy.

Dhoif, a community leader in Padarincang, said the company had cleared about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of forest on Mount Parakasak, in addition to drilling more than one well.

Today, the project remains abandoned and tall brush has overtaken the road built to access the main facility.

Slow boil

Agriculture and forestry account for more than a third of national income in Indonesia, but the soil dominates the local economy here in Padarincang.

People here grow fruits, grains and vegetables both for household food security and as a primary source of income.

“If nature stays green, no one is going to starve,” said Eha, the mother from Padarincang.

People here are eager to emphasize that they don’t oppose development in principle, just this particular project in their backyard. Some cite safety concerns.

In April, a pipe blowout at the Sorik Marapi geothermal plant in North Sumatra province apparently released a cloud of hydrogen sulfide, a gas that is added to geothermal steam.

Geothermal accidents are rare. However, this year, more than 20 people were taken to the hospital, many of whom were brought in unresponsive on stretchers.

Brief exposure to hydrogen sulfide can cause relatively mild symptoms, but “higher levels can cause shock, convulsions, coma, and death,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Not a drill

Various civil society organizations are supporting the Padarincang community, including national pressure groups the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam).

Walhi mining and energy lead Fanny Tri Jambore Christanto said the Padarincang project could jeopardize groundwater access, which could bring about disaster for locals.

“Generally speaking, when there are changes in the landscape and a decrease in the groundwater level, that means a loss of water sources,” Christanto said.

“That’s what often causes conflict with society,” he added.

Al Muktabar, the acting governor of Banten province, maintains that the project remains live, although there is little clarity on a timeline for completion.

For the people of Padarincang, this prospect of renewed construction is a source of anxiety.

“We remain alert,” said Dhoif, the community leader. “On several occasions, the heavy equipment came and we pushed them back.”

Dhoif said the Padarincang landscape remained fertile, with abundant groundwater. “We have to preserve it so that future generations can enjoy it,” he said.

On June 5, multiple generations of Padarincang residents gathered agricultural products signaling good fortune and held bright white banners aloft.

“We’ll continue to defend our territory,” Dhoif said. “The preservation of nature that gives its blessings to the community.”

This story was reported by Mongabay’s Indonesia team and first published here on our Indonesian site on June 19, 2024.

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