Chevron expands geothermal operations in Indonesia

San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron (NYSE: CVX) said yesterday that it boosted its geothermal operations in Indonesia with the start of commercial production at its 110 megawatt Darajat III plant in West Java.

The company said the plant will provide energy for an additional 700,000 homes.

The new facility brings Chevron's total capacity at Darajat to 259 MW, with combined output from the company's Darajat and Salak geothermal operations now producing enough energy to supply 3.9 million homes in Indonesia.

"Chevron is proud to be involved in the development of this significant renewable energy project, which builds on our position as the largest geothermal energy producer in the world," said John Watson, president of Chevron International Exploration and Production.

Chevron said its global geothermal operations have installed capacity to produce a total of 1,273 MW of energy, accounting for more than half of all privately developed geothermal capacity.

The company said Darajat III is the largest geothermal energy project to be registered by the United Nations under the Clean Development Mechanism program.

The program is a market-based instrument of the UN's Kyoto Protocol to encourage implementation of cost-effective greenhouse gas reductions.

Chevron operates four geothermal facilities in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Tiwi and Mak-Ban resources in the Philippines were discovered in the early 1970s

Commercial production from Salak and Darajat in West Java began in the 1990s.

Chevron said its Darajat II and III plants were developed with local partner PT. Darajat Geothermal Indonesia under a joint operation contract with Pertamina.

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