State companies join forces to construct geothermal plant

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 03/27/2009 2:27 PM  |  Business

PT Geo Dipa Energi (GDE), inked a deal Wednesday with state engineering company PT Rekayasa Industry and state-run Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) to construct and finance a geothermal power plant in West Java.

GDE is a joint venture company of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina and state power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

The geothermal project, located in Patuha, Bandung, West Java, will have a capacity of 55 megawatt (MW) from a potential of 400 MW.

"This project is very vital to the second phase of the country's 10,000 MW energy crash program because 4,733 MW of it will be powered by geothermal energy, including from this one," said GDE president director Praktimia Semiawan said.

She said the construction of the Patuha plant was to be completed in two years and fully operational by late 2011, generating around 500 million KWH per year, saving PLN production costs of about Rp 750 billion (US$65.2 million).

Praktimia said a diesel-fueled power plant usually cost about Rp 2,250-Rp 2,500 per KWH while the recurrent cost of geothermal energy was about 8 US cents per (Rp 900).

Praktimia said the construction of the Patuha plant would cost GDE $143 million, of which about $80 million would be financed by a syndicated loan of state banks while the rest would be from company equity. "We have appointed state BNI as the syndication leader for the loan," she said, adding other state banks -- Bank Mandiri and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) -- were included.

BNI president director Gatot M. Suwondo said the bank was very much interested to finance power plant projects in line with the government strategy to improve the country's business infrastructure.

He said the lender had disbursed around Rp 8.32 trillion for power plant projects by December last year.

The proposed power projects were located in Cikarang, Indramayu, Rembang, Wayan Windu in West Java; Cilacap, in Central Java; Palu and Poso in Central Sulawesi; Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan; Sibayak in North Sumatra; and Bintan in Riau Islands.

As well as Patuha, GDE is developing geothermal sources in Mount Dieng in Central Java, with a potential capacity of 400 MW. The company has already installed a 60 MW power plant there.

Geothermal energy will play an important role in the second phase of the 10,000 MW crash program. Geothermal energy sources are expected to power nearly half of the projects in the program. Hydro-power will account for 1,174 MW, with coal and gas provide the remaining 4,056 MW. (fmb)

Comments (1)  |   Post comment
A  |   A  |   A  |   Mail to a friend  |  Printer Friendly Version |  Digg it!  |  Add to Del.icio.us!  |  Add to Reddit!  |  Stumble it!   |  Share on facebook  

Dadut Priyambodo (not verified) — Sat, 03/28/2009 - 8:58am

In addition to geothermal as one of energy sources in generating electricity, Indonesia has other good if not better options on the table. Abundant water and wind are other sources to name just a couple. To help the poor living at countrysides improve their productivity by having electricity all day long we have a good example how a simple woman as we have seen on TV pioneering small power plants at some villages. Cheaper, safer, and meaningful to our fellow countrymen. Two thumbs up! The giving of rewards and recognition from the government are then the right thing to do in the hopes that there will be more such pioneers in other fields. On wind power plant we do not have it yet although there have been some efforts to materialize it. Actually we have many places where winds blow all year long with enough speed to propel turbines and generate electricity. Compared to other energy sources wind power plant is said to be competitive enough in terms of output, cost, plant area, efficiency, and installation period. May energy experts further study about it in order to give our people the best choice at the least cost.

What's On

more
more