PTBA, Indonesia Power form two joint ventures

State owned coal producer PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) and state owned electricity company PLN?s subsidiary PT Indonesia Power (IP) have agreed to form two joint ventures to develop mine-mouth power plants in Riau and South Sumatra, Investor Indonesia reported on Monday.

?Hopefully, the two power plants can be operated in 2007 or 2008,? said PTBA?s technical director Arwady Cornelius Purba.

The Banjarsari, South Sumatra power plant, which will have two power generating units each with a capacity of 100 Megawatt(MW), is to be built in cooperation with the local company, with a share composition of 24 percent for PTBA, 51 percent for IP and the remaining 25 percent for the local company. The construction cost of the power plant will reach about US$200 million.

The Pranap, Riau power plant will also be built and operated under a similar cooperation scheme with a local company. This power plant will have two units with a combined capacity of 500 MW. The constructin cost is estimated at about US$600 million.

Purba said that the joint ventures were now completing the power purchase agreement with PLN and coal supply agreement with PTBA. (*)