Minister no longer oppose appointment of PLN unit for Jawa-5 project

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) does no longer oppose a decision by state-owned electricity firm PT PLN to appoint its subsidiary PT Indonesia Power (IP) to develop the 2x1,000 MW PLTU Jawa-5 coal-fired power plant project, Kontan reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted Interim Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Luhut Panjaitan as saying that in accordance with Presidential Regulation No 4/2016, PLN can directly appoint its subsidiary to accelerate power plant project as long as the subsidiary holds a 51 percent stake in the project.

PLN President Director Sofyan Basir said earlier this month that the company has appointed IP to develop the power plant project, a decision which was opposed by Luhut and other industry players arguing that the PLTU Jawa-5 project is supposed to be offered to private investors via tender as stipulated under the 2016-2025 Electricity Procurement Business Plan of PLN.

This portal reported on Wednesday, quoting a source, that four Japanese firms including Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sumitomo, and local firm IDX-listed PT Adaro Energy Tbk are competing to become a partner of IP in the PLTU Jawa-5 project. (*)