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wo state-owned enterprises are playing the blame game over the pricing of geothermal steam, which is likely to shut down Kamojang geothermal power plant.

The set-to erupted on Wednesday after oil and gas giant Pertamina, which operates geothermal business through its subsidiary Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), said it would have to stop the supply of steam used to generate electricity at Kamojang power plant units 1, 2 and 3, which belong to state-owned power firm PLN, because no price deal had been achieved. The halt in supply was to begin as early as Feb. 1.

'€œPertamina has proposed the most lenient offering under an extension for an interim agreement with PLN. However, PLN sent us a letter saying that it wouldn'€™t extend the contract with PGE, meaning the steam wells risked being shut down,'€ Pertamina spokesperson Wianda Pusponegoro said.

She called for PLN to come back to the negotiating table before the end of the month. PLN, for its part, claimed Pertamina was asking too much.

'€œIf the price were fair, we would have accepted it. After all, we'€™ve worked together for 32 years. But we were taken aback when Pertamina asked such a high price for a period of only five years,'€ PLN senior manager Agung Murdifi said.

He declined to reveal Pertamina'€™s offer.

Thanks to its strategic location in the so-called ring of fire, Indonesia is estimated to have geothermal potential of around 28,000 megawatts, although to date, installed capacity is only around 1,400MW. Geothermal power plant projects are often hampered by environmental and pricing issues.