Kamojang, popularly known as Kawah Kamojang or (the Kamojang

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

), is a geothermal field and tourist spot in

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The crater is located in sub-district ( ''kecamatan'') Ibun in the

Bandung Regency Bandung Regency (''Kabupaten Bandung'') is an administrative landlocked regency located to the south, southeast, east and northeast of the city of Bandung. The northern parts of the Bandung Regency are effectively part of the Bandung Metropolitan ...

, approximately 45 km to the southeast of

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

through the towns of Majalaya and Ibun. The crater can also be reached from the opposite direction through the town of

Garut Garut is a district and town in West Java of Indonesia, and the former capital of Garut Regency. It is located about 75 km to the southeast of the major city of Bandung. History The modern history of Garut started on March 2, 1811 when Balub ...

, in

Garut Regency Garut Regency is a Regency (Indonesia), Regency in the West Java province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 3,065.19 km2 (1,186.91 mi2). Geographically, it lies between 6°57′34″ – 7°44′57″ South latitude a ...

(the distance by road from Garut to the northwest through the township of Samarang is around 25 km). The volcano that the crater is located on is

Mount Guntur Mount Guntur ( id, Gunung Guntur) is an active stratovolcano in western Java. It is part of a complex of several overlapping stratovolcanoes about northwest of the city of Garut. The last eruption was in 1847. At an elevation of , Mount Guntur ...

but the crater itself is listed as an active volcano of Indonesia because of its geothermal activities.

Geothermal activities

There is a long history of interest in the possibility of developing the geothermal potential of the Kamojang region. The first geothermal wells in Indonesia were drilled at Kamojang in 1926 by the Dutch colonial government. The current geothermal field is on the slopes of Mt Guntur, about 7 km to the west of the peak of the mountain. There are four operating geothermal generating units with a capacity of 200 MW. The fourth unit began operation in January 2013. A fifth unit with a planned capacity of 35 MW was contracted in October 2013 with estimated construction completion by July 2015. Kamojang is the site of the first modern geothermal site in Indonesia, commissioned by former president Soeharto in January 1983. The 7 current units, with a capacity of 200 MW, are owned and operated by PT Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of the Indonesian state-owned electricity generating corporation, ''

Perusahaan Listrik Negara PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) ( 'State Electricity Company', abbreviated as PLN) is an Indonesian government-owned corporation which has a monopoly on electric power distribution in Indonesia and generates the majority of the country' ...

'' (PLN). The concession to the field is held by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, a subsidiary of another of Indonesia's major state-owned companies, ''PT Pertamina''.Pertamina, PLN to jointly develop power plants'
, ''The Jakarta Post'', 11 August 2000.

References

{{reflist Volcanoes of West Java Geothermal power stations in Indonesia Volcanic craters Stratovolcanoes of Indonesia Pleistocene stratovolcanoes

Geothermal activities

See also

References