Pertamina Plans Rp 2t Geothermal Push

Jakarta Globe, Antara & JG | July 14, 2011

Pertamina Geothermal Energy, a unit of state oil and gas company Pertamina, plans to increase its capital spending by nearly 20 percent next year as part of a push to expand its business, a company executive said.

The company wants to boost its capital expenditure to Rp 2 trillion ($234 million) in 2012 from this year’s Rp 1.7 trillion, the company’s corporate secretary Adiatma Sardjito, said in Jakarta on Thursday.

It plans to build several geothermal power plants, including two 55-megawatt power plants in Ulu Belu, Lampung. The total cost for the two plants is estimated at Rp 385 billion, Adiatma said.

“There will be an additional 110 megawatts of power capacity next year,’’ he said.

The company has been building seven geothermal power plants this year, which are expected to add a combined power capacity of 292 MW.

Adiatma said the company would finance the projects with its own cash and soft loans from overseas financial institutions, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank.

He said most of the company’s projects were located in North Sulawesi, known for its abundant geothermal reserves. The company expects its geothermal capacity to increase to 2,033 MW in 2014 from the current 1,194 MW, Adiatma said.

Meanwhile, Indonesian company Supreme Energy expects operations to start in 2015 at its geothermal power plant in Lampung, which will produce 220 MW of power, said Sutono, secretary of South Lampung district.

He said the exploitation of geothermal energy would produce electricity equal to the power produced by the power plant in Tarahan, also in Lampung, and increase the power supplies in the province, which sits in the southern stretch of Sumatra Island.

The power from the plant will be sold to state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara. Sutono said the geothermal plant would employ about 62,000 people, helping to relieve unemployment in the province.