KS Orka to connect 20 MW of Sorik Merapi to local grid

By Febry Silaban

SGX-listed KS Orka Renewables Pte Ltd is planning to connect 20 MW of the PLTP Sorik Merapi geothermal power plant project in Mandailing Regency, North Sumatra Province, to local grid at the end of this year.

KS Orka spokesperson Syahrini Nuryanti told Petromindo.com on Wednesday that her company is still in negotiation with state-owned electricity firm PT PLN over power plant system change at the PLTP Sorik Marapi.

?The plan is that we will keep running connection of 20MW to local grid by the end of this year. This plan is still being discussed with PLN if it is ready to receive 20MW,? she said.

The company has drilled the 10th well and has just also finished exploration. The company will begin the stage of exploitation, Syahrini said earlier. According to her, KS Orka has completed the feasibility study (FS) and the drilling of the wells, which have confirmed about 45 MW of generating potential.

Meanwhile, Director of Geothermal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Yunus Saefulhak said earlier that the PLTP Sorik Merapi project will use wellhead power plant technology with smaller scale capacity of 10 MW, targeted to be on stream end of this year.

KS Orka currently owns the 240 MW Sorik geothermal power plant project in North Sumatra, following the acquisition of 100 percent of PT OTP Geothermal Pte Ltd from Origin Energy Geothermal Singapore Pte Ltd and Tata Power International Pte Ltd. PT OTP Geothermal owns 95 percent of PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power, the owner of the Sorik geothermal power plant project.

KS Orka is a joint venture between Hugar Orka ehf, an Icelandic company and Zhejiang Kaishan Compressor Co., Ltd (Kaishan), which is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak