PLN to issue Rp 12 trillion of new bond sales

State-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will raise bond sales by about Rp 12 trillion to finance electricity projects to be built under the government's crash program to provide additional power supply of 10,000 megawatts within three years until 2009, Kompas reported on Wednesday.

The bonds will be issued in the form of global bonds worth about US$1 billion and local bonds worth Rp 3 trillion.

PLN's chief commissioner Alhilal Hamdi said in Jakarta on Tuesday that PLN needed to increase the bonds sales because the proceeds from the previous bonds would not be enough to finance the electricity projects.

"The tender for the construction of a number of coal-fired power plants in Java has been completed. The tender for the construction of coal-fired power plants outside Java is underway," he said, adding that PLN should provide at least 15 percent of the total value of the projects.

PLN issued global bonds worth about US$1 billion and local bonds worth about Rp 2.4 trillion in October last years to partly finance the electricity projects.

With the issuance of the new bonds, the total value of the bonds issued by PLN will increase to Rp 25.94 trillion from the previous Rp 13 trillion.

PLN will invest up to Rp 52.59 trillion for the construction of new power plants and transmission networks. Of the total, about Rp 30.63 trillion will be used to finance the construction of new power plants to be built under the crash program. (*)