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tate construction firm PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PTPP) has secured a contract worth Rp 917.59 billion (US$100 million) to build a 100 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant (PLTG) in Sumatra.

PTPP will work on the plant, to be located in Duri, Riau, in a consortium with construction firm PT Indo Fuji Energi to complete the engineering, procurement and construction process within 10 months, the company said in a statement distributed on Friday.

Indonesia, which still commonly experiences blackouts in remote areas and small cities, is pushing to diversify renewable energy sources to provide cheaper and more sustainable electricity amid dwindling oil and gas supplies.

State electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will operate the gas-fired power plant, which is expected to come online in February 2013 and channel power to the central region of Sumatra, PLN oil-based fuels and gas head division Suryadi Mardjoeki said.

“The Duri plant will require 25 million mmscfd [million metric standard cubic feet per day] of gas, which will be taken from the Jambi Merang field,” Suryadi told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

The Jambi Merang field is operated by a joint body of PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) and Canada-based Talisman.

For PTPP, the contract from PLN would pave the way for the company to meet the 2012 new contract target of Rp 16.9 trillion, a 39.6 percent increase from last year’s Rp 12.1 trillion, PTPP corporate secretary Betty Ariana said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The publicly-listed construction firm is seeking to secure a total of Rp 27 trillion in contracts this year, of which Rp 10.1 trillion is extracted from carry-over contracts.

In the first quarter of 2012, PTPP saw new contracts amounting to Rp 1.03 trillion, comprising the Muaralabuh geothermal electric power plant (PLTP) in West Sumatra and Educity Pakuwon in Surabaya, among others.

PTPP revenue soared 42 percent to Rp 6.23 trillion last year on growth in new contracts, lifting net profits by Rp 19.13 percent to Rp 240.22 billion in 2011.

PTPP has set aside Rp 400 billion for capital expenditure this year, which will be invested in construction of power plants, property and other infrastructure projects.

The company would partly use internal cash to fund its spending needs. It issued two-year medium-term note worth Rp 100 billion last month and raised Rp 566.06 billion in a 2010 initial public offering (IPO), of which PTPP has only used 42.4 percent as of the beginning of this year.

Shares in PTPP, which had a market value of more than Rp 3 trillion, gained 3.17 percent following the announcement to Rp 650 apiece at 9:52 a.m. Jakarta time, before closing Friday’s trading flat at Rp 630 per share.

PTPP shares have soared almost 30 percent so far this year, outperforming the broader benchmark stock index’s 8.82 percent gain, on investors’ confidence in infrastructure-related stocks as the government embarked on the so-called MP3EI Economic Master Plan, which will require massive investments in infrastructure. (yps)