Adaro confident financial close of Batang power plant to be completed in June

By Thomas Sembiring

President Director of IDX-listed coal mining firm PT Adaro Energy Tbk, Garibaldi Tohir is confident that the financial close of the giant 2x1000 MW coal-fired Batang power plant in Central Java can be completed as planned on June 6 of this year.

?We?re confident that the financial close can be made June 6 so that construction of the power plant can be started,? he said on Monday. Adaro Energy owns PT Adaro Power, which is part of the consortium planning to develop the giant US$4 billion power plant project along with J-Power and Itochu Corp.

Garibaldi acknowledged there has been a two-month delay in the financial close of the project as JBIC, a key creditor for the project, has complained to the government about the central bank regulation requiring the use of rupiah in domestic transaction including in the sales of electricity to state-owned electricity firm PT PLN.

He said that negotiation between JBIC and the government is still in progress. He is optimistic that both sides will soon reach an agreement.

Following the recent completion of land acquisition process, the Batang power plant project has entered pre-construction phase. The project has been targeted to be completed in 2020.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak