Minister tells PLN to acquire PGE

State Minister of State Owned Enterprises Rini Suwandi has approved a plan by state-owned electricity firm PT PLN to acquire PT Pertamina Geothermal Energi (PGE), a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.

The minister has recommended PLN to make the acquisition during a meeting last week, according to PLN President Director Sofyan Basir as quoted by Kontan. ?If Bu (honorific) Rini has said it, it must be implemented,? he said on Wednesday, adding that the company was interested to acquire up to 50 percent stake in PGE, hopefully to be realized this year or next.

He said that the acquisition of PGE will help PLN in accelerating the development of geothermal power plants in the country as the government aims to boost total capacity to 7,000 MW by 2025 from the current 1,600 MW.

As has been earlier reported by this portal, quoting a source, PLN has expressed interest to acquire PGE.

Meanwhile, President Director of PT Pertamina, Dwi Soetjipto said his company is still evaluating PLN?s interest to acquire PGE. He said that the company is open to partnership with other parties. He added that the proceeds can be used to expand PGE geothermal power plant projects as the company has been targeted to expand capacity to 1,000 MW within the next 3-4 years from the current 450 MW. (*)