Govt to open tender for three energy projects Tuesday

The government will open tender for three infrastructure projects in the energy sector on Tuesday (April 26) after being delayed for a month, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported on Monday.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the three projects included the deveopment of a coal-fired power plant in Banten and special rights to operate two gas pipeline networks in Java.

He said that the power plant project in Banten will have a capacity of up to 450 MW. According to Bisnis, the project will need an investment of around US$500 million.

Meanwhile, Director General of Electricy and Primary Energy Yogo Pratomo said that the Banten power plant project would be the first project to be offered via the second generation of the Independent Power Producer (IPP) scheme.

The government, he said, would offer 10 other power projects via the scheme. This includes the 1,200 MW coal-fired Tanjung Jati A project, 1,200 coal-fired Tanjung Jati C power project, and a 100 MW coal-fired power project in North Sumatra.

The projects would be offered to investors in 2005 and 2006 so that the electricity can already enter the national power system by 2009-2010, he said.

Meanwhile, Purnomo said that the development of the two gas pipeline network in Java will require investment of between Rp 4 trillion - Rp 6 trillion.

Investors will be givent the special rights to operate the pipeline that would distribute between 350-500 million cubic feet per day of gas for the Cirebon-Semarang line and the Semarang-Gresik network.(*)