"We need a partner not only having the technology but also fund to carry out the project."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - PT Wika Jabar Power, a subsidiary of state construction company Wijaya Karya, will build a 40-megawatt geothermal power plant, (PLTP) Gunung Tampomas, in Sumedang, West Java.
Wijaya Karya corporate secretary Natal Argawan Pardede said Wika Jabar is looking for a partner to build the power plant as the company has no experience in building geothermal power plant.
PT Jasa Sarana, which is owned by the West Java regional administration, having a stake in Wika Jabar Power, also has never built a geothermal power plant," Natal said.
"We need a partner not only having the technology but also fund to carry out the project," he said here on Thursday, adding geothermal power project is more expensive than coal fired power project.
At least US$100 million is needed to build a geothermal power plant with a capacity of 50MW or about three times more expensive than a coal or oil-fired power plant with the same capacity, he said.
"We hope to have a partner among oil and gas companies having good reputation like Pertamina or Chevron," he said.
Earlier, Wika Jabar Power planned to drill two explorations wells in Gunung Tampomas to cost US$10 million.
Natal said the selling price of the company`s geothermal power is yet to be negotiated with the buyer state electric company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN)
The government has set the selling price range for geothermal power at 9-16 US cents per kilowatt hour.
PLN is required to buy all power generated by independent power producers (IPP) at a preset price.
Development of PLTP Tampomas is pending the result of a mitigation survey.
(Uu.AS/H-ASG/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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