Abu Dhabi (ANTARA) – Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Eddy Soeparno urged global energy firms to invest in Indonesia’s geothermal sector, describing it as one of the world’s largest yet still underutilized, at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.Speaking Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, Soeparno noted Indonesia has roughly 24 gigawatts of geothermal potential, but only about 10 percent is currently developed, highlighting the country’s untapped renewable energy opportunities.“We are blessed with significant geothermal resources. I hope to see investors exploring Indonesia’s abundant geothermal potential,” he said, addressing a forum attended by major global renewable energy companies.Soeparno said Indonesia uniquely possesses abundant renewable energy sources—solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal—while also holding substantial fossil fuel reserves, providing a diverse energy mix for future development.Despite this, he noted Indonesia’s domestic energy demand is not fully met, with continued reliance on imports of roughly 1 million barrels of oil per day, seven million tons of LPG annually, and diesel fuel.“From an energy sustainability perspective, Indonesia still has work to do to achieve energy security,” Soeparno said, emphasizing the need to reduce import dependency and strengthen domestic energy production.He outlined that Indonesia’s national electricity development plan targets 69.5 gigawatts of new capacity over the next eight to nine years, including 5.2 GW from geothermal, 42 GW from other renewables, and 10 GW from battery storage.Achieving these targets will require an estimated US$190 billion in investment, Soeparno said, underscoring the scale of funding needed to meet the government’s energy and sustainability goals.He stressed that government and parliament are accelerating revisions to key regulations to attract clean energy investment, including the New and Renewable Energy Bill, amendments to the Electricity Law, and the Climate Change Management Bill.The government is also pushing updates to the Geothermal Law in response to declining investment in the sector over the past two years, aiming to improve the business climate for developers.“From a regulatory point of view, we are here to assist, help, and accelerate development and investments in Indonesia’s geothermal sector. Thank you very much,” Soeparno said.