Antam will call for tender to build alternative energy

State-owned diversified mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) will call for tender to build an alternative energy plant. The building of plant in 2008 is in line with the company's efforts to shift fuel-based energy source to alternative energy, Bisnis Indonesia reported Monday.

PT Antam's director of operations Alwin Syah Loebis said his company is in the middle of studying various options to choose which alternative energy in place of fuel-based energy source. This will be company's effort to cut costs and overcome the deficit of oil in the future.

At present oil costs constitute 30 to 45 percent of company's total production costs.

According to Alwin, Antam has set a target to making a decision on what kind of alternative energy source to be used in 2007. In 2008, the company will start construction of the alternative energy plant and in 2009, the plant will start operations.

The company is considering various options, including building hydro power plant, gas and coal power plants. In the case of gas, the gas source will come from Energy World Corporation-operated Sengkang block and Pertamina-Medco-operated Senoro-Toili block in Central Sulawesi.

?For Sengkang, we are still studying about establishing a mini LNG power plant,? Alwin said over the weekend.

In April 2006, Antam?s corporate secretary Ashur Wasif confirmed that the company was interested to buy gas either from Sengkang or from Pertamina-operated Donggi block in Central Sulawesi. ?Antam needs gas to replace 6x17 MW fuel used to fire power plant operating in Pomalaa,? he said. (*)