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ublicly listed oil and gas services provider PT Radiant Utama Interinsco (RUIS) says it plans to build hydropower plants in West Sumatra to diversify its business.

Radiant’s subsidiary PT Supraco Mitra Energie will build three mini-hydropower plants in Solok, West Sumatra, and plans to sell the electricity to state electricity company PLN, Supraco director Misyal Abdullah Bahwal said over the weekend.

Supraco signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) last week with the branch office of PLN in West Sumatra for PLTMH Gumanti 3, one of the plants where PLN agreed to buy electricity for Rp 187.2 (0.02 US cents) from the 6.45-megawatt (MW) plant.

Supraco will start construction of the $14.34 million power plant on 15 hectares near the Gumanti River in 2013, Misyal said.

“We were given one year to raise funds for the project after we signed the PPA. Construction is scheduled for completion in 24 months. We hope the plant will start operation in 2015,” Misyal said in a telephone interview.

Supraco is currently acquiring land for the plant while it negotiates with two banks to finance the project, Misyal said.

Supraco also plans to build PLTMH Gumanti 1 and 2 in the same area. The three plants have a $40 million price tag and a combined capacity of 15 MW.

Misyal, who is also Radiant’s corporate secretary, said that income from the Gumanti projects would be included in a new energy division on Radiant’s financial report, adding that the company had been focusnig on the renewable energy sector for the past few years.

Radiant currently has five services divisions: operations support, offshore, inspection, dredging and shipping and other services.

In 2010, Supraco collaborated with Australia-based Origin Energy Ltd. and India’s Tata Power Ltd. to establish PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power to carry out geothermal exploration in three villages in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra.

Sorik plans to build a $700 million 240 MW geothermal power plant that is expected to begin operation in 2014.

“Sumatra has become our main priority in developing the energy sector at the moment because we already have several operating units there. It is a matter of cost savings, but we’re not ruling out the possibility of exploring other regions in the future,” Misyal said.

Radiant booked total revenue of Rp 680.34 billion between January and June 2012, up 23.6 percent from the same period last year, while net profits were Rp 16.79 billion, up 49.6 percent.