Chevron Bets on $30 Billion Volcanoes Beneath Rainforest
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Chevron Corp. drilled 84 wells to a depth of two miles beneath the Indonesian rainforest to tap steam, not oil and gas, that’s trapped in the world’s richest store of volcanic energy.
The oil driller’s geothermal plant, set among wild orchids and bamboo trees, uses 315 degree Celsius (600 degree Fahrenheit) heat to spin turbines 24 hours a day, generating electricity for Jakarta, a four-hour drive to the north. Chevron, which pioneered geothermal energy 20 years ago in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, is about to see competition.