PLN to issue $1 billion bonds to finance power projects
Friday, June 19 2009 - 02:12 AM WIB
State-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will issue bonds worth up to US$1 billion to partly finance power projects currently being built under the first 10,000 megawatt power plant development program, Kompas reported Friday.
PLN?s vice president Rudiantara said in Jakarta on Thursday that the bonds would be issued in the second semester of this year. ?Besides issuing bonds, we will also raise bank loans to finance the power projects,? he added.
The company has named UBS and Barclays as the underwriters of the bond issuance.
He said the company would still need additional funds of about Rp 4.5 trillion in local currency and about US$1.7 billion in foreign currency to finance the power projects.
According to him, the total funds needed for the construction of 35 power plants reach Rp 90 trillion.
Meanwhile, Murtaqi Syamsuddin, PLN?s operational director for Java and Bali, said that
PLN saved up to Rp 2.5 trillion in fuel spending during the first five months of this year thanks to the use of gas in some of the company?s power plants in Java and Bali.
The percentage of the electricity produced by power plants using diesel oil dropped to 6,463 GWh or about 13.87 percent from total production. In the same period of last year, PLN used around 11,407 GWh or about 23.76% from total production.
Murtaqi said that PLTGU Muara Tawar combined cycle power plant in Bekasi was the largest user of gas during the five months period. The gas consumption of the power plant has reached about 230 million standard cubic feet (MMSCFD) per day.
The company?s other power plants which have already used gas included PLTGU Talang Duku combined cycle power plant in South Sumatra and PLTGU Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta. (*)