Minister questions PLN?s plan to acquire geothermal assets

State-owned electricity firm PT PLN may back down from its plan to acquire the geothermal assets of Chevron as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan has opposed the plan, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Spokesman Sujatmiko as saying that that the minister wants PLN to focus in helping the government to realize the five-year program of developing a combined 35,000 MW power plants, instead of taking part in the acquisition of operating geothermal power plants that would require huge funds of more than US$600 million.

Sujatmiko added that the minister also wants PLN to focus in developing power transmission lines to support the 35,000 MW project. ?The minister doesn?t want to see that when the (new) power plants are ready (for operation), the transmission lines, which are the responsibility of PLN (to develop), are not yet ready,? he said.

PLN could not be immediately reached for comment.

Chevron is divesting 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.

As has been previously reported by this portal, six companies including PLN have submitted binding bids for the geothermal assets. (*)