Bakrie, Tomen in talks to revive Tanjung Jati A project
Thursday, July 10 2003 - 04:36 AM WIB
The 1,320 Megawatt coal-fired power project located in Tuban, Jepara, Central Java was one of the power projects suspended by the government along in the wake of the economic crisis in late 1997.
In the subsequent talks with state electricity company PT PLN, the owner of the project, PT Tanjung Jati Power Company, agreed to terminate the project on the pledge by PLN that it would ?prioritize? the firm in its future power projects.
?Bakrie and Tomen are currently in talks to revive the project,? Kusumo AM, the head of the energy department at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Petromindo.Com on Thursday in Tuban, Central Java on the sidelines of the ceremony to re-launch a number of giant projects. The ceremony was presided over by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Kusumo is known as the close associate of the Bakrie Group.
The project was initially planned to be located in Tuban, Jepara, Central Java, close to the Tanjung Jati B power plant, but Kusumo said Bakrie and Tomen were considering relocating the project to an area in Cilacap, still in Central Java.
PLN?s director of power generation Ali Herman Ibrahim confirmed that there had been talks between Bakrie and Tomen.
?I can confirm that they have been holding talks. But, I don?t know the contents of the talks,? he said.
He noted however that PLN was now in talks with a Chinese firm on plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Cilacap.
When PLN signed the agreement to buy power from Tanjung Jati A in April 1997, the official record issued by PLN stated that the US$1.6 billion project was owned by Bakrie Power Corporation (20 percent), Tomen Power Corporation (30 percent), UK-based firm National Power (30 percent) and PT Maharani Paramitra (20 percent). Maharani was owned by former President Soeharto?s daugher Titiek Prabowo.
It is unclear if the share composition remains unchanged. (Godang)