Sintesa Group to build several power plants

The Sintesa Group, a conglomerate group led by businesswoman Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, plans to build several power plants with combined capacity at 1,000 megawatts by 2020 to help meet the energy needs of the country, the Jakarta Globe reported on Thursday.

Sintesa is expanding the capacity of its gas-fired power plant in Gunung Megang, Muara Enim in South Sumatra to 110 megawatts from 80 megawatts, Shinta said, adding that all of the power generated from the plant will be sold to state electricity company PLN.

The group secured a $100 million loan from Bank Internasional Indonesia on Tuesday to help finance the expansion. The capacity increase requires a $120 million investment, according to Shinta.

Aside from the gas-fired plant in Sumatra, Shinta is looking at other parts of the country for energy projects. The company is negotiating a power purchase agreement with PLN for a 110 MW geothermal plant in Banten Province, in which Sintesa will invest $350 million.

?We are also looking at a location close to Manado in North Sulawesi, but it is still in the very early stages? she said, adding that it would be a geothermal plant with a capacity of 30 to 50 MW. (*)