Power price a stumbling block in Wayang Windu negotiations

State-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is seeking an electricity price of below 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt per hour (kWh) from Wayang Windu geothermal power plant, the Koran Tempo newspaper reported in its Monday edition.

According to PLN?s director of primary energy and power generation Ali Herman Ibrahim, Wayang Windu's contractor Star Energy is asking for a price of above 5 U.S. cents, while PLN is seeking below 5 U.S. cents or same with the price of Salak geothermal power plant.

PLN expects to complete the negotiations next month at the latest so that the goethermal power plant can start sending its power to PLN's grid in 2008

PLN president director Eddie Widiono said the price of electricty generated by a geothermal power plant was normally higher than those produced by others types of power plants because the rate of return on investment in geothermal projects was very low.

?Investors must search for geothermal steam through drilling and there is no guarantee that they will find the reserve,? Eddie said.

PLN is targeting an additional supply of around 2,000 megawatts of power from 2008 onwards from a number of geothermal power projects, including Sarulla, Ulubellu, Luhut Balai, Wayang Windu, Daradjat, Kamojang and Lahendong.(*)