ITB's Petroleum Engineering Team Wins Second Place in 2025 IPFEST Geothermal Development Plan Competition
By Raja Parmonang Manurung - Mahasiswa Teknik Pertambangan, 2021
Editor M. Naufal Hafizh, S.S.
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id — Four Petroleum Engineering students from the ITB Class of 2021, competing as the “Le Energies” team, earned second place in the Geothermal Development Plan Competition at the 2025 Integrated Petroleum Festival (IPFEST). The team, which consists of Ghifari Handzalah Suardini, M. Faza Rosyada, Reihan Mohammad Erizal, and Ignatius Bima Torence, received their award at Aryaduta Hotel Bandung on Saturday (February 22, 2025).
IPFEST 2025 is an international competition in the fields of petroleum and energy. The Geothermal Development Plan Competition focuses on creating a comprehensive geothermal field development plan, beginning with 3G surveys, which include geology, geochemistry, and geophysics, followed by exploration and exploitation phases. This year’s competition carried the theme: “Optimizing Advanced Technology to Enhance Geothermal Energy Utilization.”
In the competition, the team proposed an innovation involving processed 3G survey data to build a tentative conceptual model. This model significantly influenced subsequent development phases of the geothermal field. It also provided a detailed illustration of the geothermal field’s subsurface structure.
After confirming the presence of geothermal resources in the analyzed field, the team calculated the available reserves and resource quantities. They then developed a detailed plan covering drilling, delineation, and field development. “Each phase also involved economic feasibility assessments to determine whether the geothermal field could be developed, taking into account potential risks as well as social and environmental impacts,” Ghifari explained.
The team faced numerous challenges throughout the competition. These ranged from balancing their academic schedules to addressing the multidisciplinary nature of the competition, which involved geology, geochemistry, geophysics, reservoir engineering, drilling, processing, economics, and Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE). Despite the difficulties, strong support from mentors helped the team achieve success. Their mentors included Muhammad Satriyo, Afdhal Baravanni, Esty Mustika, Dinda Permatasari R.B., and Garindra Abrari.
Translator: Nabila Puspita (Bioengineering, 2022)
