Indian company mulls to build mine-mouth power plant in Jambi

Indian energy Company Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd will build mine-mouth power plant, in Sarolangun and Bungo regencies, Jambi in cooperation with the local government, Antara news agency reported Thursday.

Jambi governor Zulkifli Nurdin said that the total investment for the construction of the power plant which would have a combined generation capacity of 500 megawatt could reach US$500 million.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting with representatives of the Indian company, Wednesday Zulkifli said that the local government would require the company to provide a bank guarantee if it was really serious about the plan.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian representative of the Indian company Nuhendi said that Monnet would be expected to increase the capacity of the power plant to 1,000 MW.

"The form of cooperation will take a few stages such as conduct a feasibility study to find exact locations and other deal agreements," Nuhendi said.

He said that Monnet was interested in developing mine-mouth power plant in Jambi due to the high amount of the coal reserves in the province. According to him, the coal reserves could reach up to 1.5 billion tons, or significant enough for consumption of between 20 and 30 years. (*)