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tate-owned coal miner PT Bukit Asam (PTBA) is expected to expand into Myanmar by establishing a joint venture with a local company to run a power plant project, an official says.

PTBA corporate secretary Joko Pramono said the company was in intensive talks about the firm's expansion plans into Myanmar, particularly the power plant project.

'We're still talking about a [possible] business scheme. A joint venture is one of the alternatives,' Joko said on Monday, while declining to reveal further details.

He added that representatives from Myanmar, accompanied by representatives from state power firm PT PLN and PTBA, had visited a number of power plant projects in the country belonging to PTBA.

'This is g-to-g [government-to-government] cooperation. So, we hope to see the implementation immediately,' he said.

Besides PTBA, several other state-owned enterprises have announced their plans to open businesses in Myanmar, including lender Bank Negara Indonesia, PLN, oil and gas company PT Pertamina, tin miner PT Timah, construction firm PT Wijaya Karya and cement producer PT Semen Indonesia.

PTBA previously said it was assessing three ways to expand its business to Myanmar: Through coal delivery to the country; mining activities; and a power plant development project.

According to Joko, PTBA will also supply coal for its Myanmar power plant project as part of the company's expansion of coal export destinations. Currently, China is the main consumer of Indonesia's coal.

PTBA has carried out a number of power plant projects as part of its business development, aiming to shift from being solely a coal miner to an integrated energy company, according to president director Milawarma.

Last year, PTBA completed the construction of its own mine-mouth coal-fired steam power plant, with a capacity of 3x10 megawatts, near its mine site in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra.

PTBA uses 24 megawatts in electricity generated from the power plant to support its mining
operations and sells the remaining 6 megawatts to PLN.

The company is also expecting to complete a 2x8-megawatt coal-fired power plant at its Tarahan port facility in Bandar Lampung, Lampung, later this year.

Through its subsidiary, PTBA is also working on a mine-mouth project of 2x110 megawatts called the Banjarsari coal-fired power plant in Palembang, South Sumatra.

In addition, it also has a joint venture with PLN and Malaysia's state-run Tenaga National Berhad to develop a coal-fired power plant in Peranap, Riau, to produce between 800 megawatts and 1,200 megawatts of electricity.

The company is expecting to sell up to 20.68 million tons of coal by the year-end, a 35 percent increase from 15.3 million tons a year earlier.

The company is planning to boost production capacity from 14 million tons last year to 50 million tons in the next five years.

PTBA shares closed at Rp 12,750 (US$1.30) on Monday, a decline of 3.77 percent compared to last Friday.

With coal prices under pressure the financial performance of coal miners has been distinctly lackluster, shares in PTBA have dropped around 20 percent year-to-date.

The company had bought back up to 5 percent of its floating shares from last year until earlier this month in an effort to profit from the declining share price.

Joko said the company spent less than the Rp 2.04 trillion allocated for the buyback.