Contractual issues still hampering Sarulla geothermal power project
Thursday, July 26 2012 - 02:36 AM WIB
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is still waiting for amendment of contract between PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, PT Medco Energi and Sarulla Operation Limited (SOL) over assets of the Sarulla project, before making a decision on the fate of the project, Director General for New, Renewable and Energy Conservation at the energy ministry, Kardaya Warnika, said.
Kardaya told Petromindo.com that his office is still waiting for those involved in the project to reach an agreement soon.
He said joint decree of three related ministries ? Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Finance Ministry and State Enterprise Ministry are finalizing a regulation with regard to the development of the mega Sarulla geothermal project.
Kardaya said in May this year that the government has asked Sarulla Operation Limited as the developer of the 330 MW PLTP Sarulla geothermal power plant to amend its joint operating contract (JOC).
The amendment of JOC, which will be used as the basis for the signing of the government?s joint decree (SKB) on the separation of Sarulla?s assets, will pave the way for realization of the geothermal power plant.
Separately, Corporate Secretary of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, Adiatma Sardjito, confirmed pending unsettled issues in the contract. ?There are contractual issues that are yet to be settled,? he said, without providing further details.
President Director and CEO of PT Medco Energi Internasional, Lukman Mahfoedz told Petromindo.com that the assets of the Sarulla project is regulated under previous ruling, in which the assets are held by the government.
The joint decree would divide Sarulla?s assets into two parts ? the upstream assets will be controlled by Pertamina and downstream assets will be controlled by the geothermal plant operator as stated in the joint operation contract.
Lukman said the planned joint decree of the aforementioned three ministries should provide legal umbrella and address the assets-related issues of the Sarulla geothermal project.
?In principle, the ruling on assets ownership has been agreed by parties concerned, including lenders. There has been good progress on the matter. However, the draft of the agreement is being formulated. Hopefully, it will be finalized soon,? Lukman told Petromindo.com.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik expressed his optimism early this month that the geothermal power plant Sarulla in Tarutung regency, North Sumatra, will start to be developed in 2013.
Editing by Roffie Kurniawan