Medco close to acquire Sengkang power plant

JSX-listed oil and gas company PT. Medco international Tbk. is in advanced talks to acquire stakes at 135-MW Sengkang gas-fired power plant in South Sulawesi, an official said.

?Medco will acquire stake at the power plant first, and then will proceed to acquire upstream participation in Sengkang Block PSC, which supplies gas to Sengkang power plant,? said Exspan Nusantara director Edi Bambang Setyobudi in an interview with Petromindo.Com recently. Exspan Nusantara is an E&P arm of Medco.

Sengkang power plant and Sengkang Block PSC is 47.5 percent owned by Australian firm Energy Equity Corp. in a partnership with US energy firm El Paso Energy (47.5 percent) and local firm PT Trihasra (5 percent), which is controlled by former President Soeharto's daughter Siti Hadiyanti Rukmana, also known as Tutut.

The partnership has built a US$225 million, 135-Megawatt combined cycle power plant in Sengkang. It has signed a 20-year take-or-pay power purchase agreement (PPA) with PLN at the power price of 6.5 US cents per kilowatt-hour but later re-negotiated due to Indonesian economic crises. (alex).