Geothermal power generation development is gaining steam in Indonesia and the Philippines, both have some of the world's largest reserves, as companies raise funds to capitalize on the shift towards renewable energy.
Barito Renewables Energy, an arm of Indonesian conglomerate Barito Pacific, listed on the stock exchange in October. Its market capitalization reached 130 trillion rupiah on the first day of trading and skyrocketed sixfold to 840 trillion rupiah at next day's close, making it the second-most valuable company on the exchange.
The company operates three geothermal power plants on Java through subsidiary, Star Energy Geothermal, with Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. as an investor. The total power generation capacity is 890 MW.
Barito raised 3 trillion rupiah in its IPO and plans to use the funds for plant expansion.
Geothermal power generation utilizes hot water and steam extracted from underground as a heat source to produce electricity. Unlike solar and wind power, it is generally not affected by weather conditions or the time of day.
