Mitsubishi starts geothermal push in Indonesia

Now includes geothermal projects!

This was announced by Mitsubishi regarding the scope of its business in Indonesia.

“Geothermal is a very promising business field, especially in Indonesia. With the country’s strong economic growth and huge population, it means that demand for electricity is growing as well. This is also something that the government is focusing on now,” said Taimei Watanabe, the assistant to chief representative of Mitsubishi Corp for Jakarta office.

Mitsubishi, through subsidiary Diamond Generating Asia, recently acquired a 20 percent stake in independent power producer Star Energy Geothermal, which operates the Wayang Windu Power Plant in Bandung, West Java.

The US$200 million acquisition was completed on Oct. 23 and reduced the ownership of old shareholder Singapore-listed Star Energy Geothermal Holdings Pte Ltd to 80 percent.

This is Mitsubishi’s first geothermal project in Indonesia, according to Watanabe.

The Wayang Windu power plant has been in operation since 2000 and currently produces 230 MW, all of which are distributed to PLN.

He added that Mitsubishi acquired only 20 percent of Star Energy’s shares because it was learning how to run an IPP in Indonesia.

According to a regulation issued early in September, the government will pays 11 to 12.5 US cents per kWh of electricity obtained from geothermal sources in the Java, Madura and Bali regions.

Star Energy plans on increasing its plant’s capacity to 420 MW, although it has not yet established a timeframe for doing so, Watanabe said.

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