PLN interested to acquire Chevron?s geothermal assets

State-owned electricity company PT PLN said it is interested to acquire the geothermal assets of US energy firm Chevron Corp in Indonesia.

PLN President Director Sofyan Basir was quoted by Kontan as saying Monday that the company was seeking approval from the Office of the State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises for the planned acquisition. He declined to provide further details.

PLN is the latest to express interest in the Chevron geothermal assets. State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and IDX-listed energy company PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk have also expressed interest in the assets. Recent reports said that foreign companies are also interested in acquiring the assets including Engie from France, Japan?s Marubeni, Japan?s Mitsui, Thailand?s Banpu Power, and Aboitiz Power from the Philippines.

Previous reports said that Chevron is planning to sell its geothermal assets in Indonesia and the Philippines.

In Indonesia, Chevron operates the Darajat and Salak fields, West Java, which have a combined operating capacity of 647 megawatts.

Chevron also has a 40 percent interest in the Philippine Geothermal Production Company, Inc., the operator of the Tiwi geothermal facility in Albay Province and the Mak-Ban geothermal facility in Laguna and Batangas provinces. These fields provide steam to the third-party Tiwi and Mak-Ban geothermal power plants in southern Luzon. These plants have a combined generating capacity of 692 megawatts. (*)