Japanese firms eying Chevron?s geothermal assets

By Febry silaban

Three Japanese firms have joined the list of firms which have expressed interest to acquire the geothermal assets of American energy giant Chevron Corp. in Indonesia, according to a senior government official.

?The three firms include Marubeni, Mitsubishi and Mitsui,? Director of Geothermal at the Directorate General of New and Renewable Energy, Yunus Saifulhak, told Petromindo.com on Friday.

Yunus said, that data room on the assets has been opened. The three Japanese firm will compete with other firms which have also expressed interest in the assets including local players state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, IDX-listed energy firm PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk.

?PLN, Pertamina, Marubeni, Mitsubishi and Mitsui have entered the second stage of data room process,? he said.

Previously, Yunus said that there are several foreign firms which have also expressed interest in the assets, including Enel S.p.a, Italy?s largest power company; Hitay Holdings, a conglomerate from Turkey; Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the largest geothermal power producer in the Philippines; KS Orka, a joint venture between Icelandic firm Hugar Orka ehf and Chinese firm Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor Co. Ltd.; and Ormat of the United States.

According to him, Chevron is expected to announce the winning bidder for its two geothermal assets in Indonesia in December of this year.

Chevron has announced plans to sell its geothermal assets in Indonesia and the Philippines. In Indonesia, according to the firm?s website, Chevron operates the Darajat and Salak working areas in West Java province, which have a combined operating capacity of 647 MW. Chevron operates the geothermal fields through two subsidiaries, namely Chevron Geothermal Indonesia, Ltd., which manages the Darajat project and Chevron Geothermal Salak, Ltd., operates the Salak project.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak