Indonesia to sell electricity to Malaysia

The government, through state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and state coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, will sell electricity produced from a coal-powered power plant to built in an area between Jambi and Pekanbaru to Malaysia, starting year 2006.

PLN president Eddie Widiono disclosed the planned sale of electricity to Malaysia after he and Bukit Asam president Sunardi met with President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday (March 28).

Eddie explained that the planned sale of electricity to Malaysia was a long-term project. Currently, both parties were still at their initial stage of talks, and therefore, no details were available, including on their pricing.

"We are still studying the possibility to build a coal-powered power plant with capacity of 2 times 600 megawatts. The project is a long term one, in year 2006," he said after the meeting with the President.

At the same occasion, the President also met with Malaysian Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Multimedia Tan Sri Datuk Mohammad Hasan B. Marican. The President was accompanied by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, and state oil company Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim.

Both countries have signed a gas purchase contract, in which Indonesian agrees to sell natural gas to Malaysia for the next 20 years, worth US$4.6 billion. In addition, Indonesia will get another US$3.4 billion from the sales of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas to Malaysia. And therefore, the total value of the contract is $8 billion. (*)