Dieng geothermal power plant to start operation in June

Geodwipa, a joint venture between state electricity company PLN and state owned oil and gas Pertamina, is scheduled to start the trial operation of its geothermal power plant in Dieng early this month, Koran Tempo reported on Friday.

"The recommissioning will be conducted soon as preparation for the operation of the geothermal power plant in early June," Pertamina?s director for upstream operation Arifin Takhyan.

He said that the plant will operate with an initial generating capacity of 60 MW. "After the operation, the joint venture will soon prepare another work to build another power generating unit with 60 MW capacity so that the geothermal power plant will have a capacity of 2 x 60 MW, he added.

"The construction of the new power generating unit will last between two and three years," he said. The geothermal power project known as PLTP Dieng was initially built by California Energy of the United States, which pulled out from the project after the government ordered the suspension of the project in 1998 following the country?s worst ever economic crisis in 1997.

The American company filed a legal suit against the government at the international arbitrate agency for the suspension. The agency then ordered the Indonesian government to pay compensation worth US$260 million to the American company through the U-S-government owned insurance company OPIC.

Arifin said that based on the result of the latest audit, total assets of the Dieng geothermal power plant mainly consisting of a power generating unit, totaled US$80 million. The amount does not include the assets of Pertamina and PLN.

The geothermal power project is currently 70% owned by PLN and 30% by Pertamina. But the composition of the ownership could change to 50%-50% after the completion of the asset reevaluation. (*)