Minister appoints new director general of electricity

By Godang Sitompul

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan has appointed Andy Noorsaman Sommeng as the ministry?s new Director General of Electricity, replacing Djarman, who entered pension age earlier this month, according to a source.

Andy, who was chairman of the downstream oil and gas authority BPH Migas in the period of 2011-2015, will be officially installed to the new post next month. ?The decree (on his appointment) has been issued,? the source said.

Sommeng?s appointment comes as the government is aggressively developing new power plant projects including by private investors particularly in regions outside Java as it aims to achieve 100 percent electrification ratio by 2024, according to the latest electricity procurement business plan (or RUPTL) of state-owned electricity firm PT PLN. The government also aims to increase efficiency in electricity production to help provide affordable electricity for consumers and to increase the contribution of renewable power plants to 22.5 percent of the country?s energy mix by 2025.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak