Govt considers merging three state geothermal firms

The government is weighing the possibility of merging three state geothermal companies, PT PLN Geothermal, PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy and PT Geo Dipa Energi (GDE), The Jakarta Post reported Friday.

?A team to oversee the merger has already been formed and is currently in full operation?? Deputy for Mining, Strategic Industry, Energy and Telecommunication at the State Ministry for State Enterprises Sahala Lumban Gaol said on Wednesday.

According to Sahala, the three companies share a vision for the merger, but have yet to decide on a complete merger, or to form a holding company.

?They agree that geothermal development by state companies is very important to the efforts for finding alternative sources of energy;? he said.

PLN Geothermal is a unit of state power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Pertamina Geothermal is a subsidiary of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, and GDE is a joint venture company between PLN and Pertamina.

State Minister of State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil had approved of the merger plan for reasons of efficiency. ?The presence of a state-owned geothermal sector potentially means relieving the government energy subsidy, which can then be transferred elsewhere,? Sofyan said. (*)