Indonesia's PLN seeks financers for $200M gas-fired project in Aceh

PLN is seeking interested bidders for funding the construction of a $200 million gas-fired power plant in Arun, Aceh.

“The winner will be announced by early next year, so that the construction can start,” said PLN’s director for planning and risk management, Murtaqi Syamsuddin.

The winner will provide the funding for the engineering, procurement and construction of the 200 megawatt power plant project. PLN will supervise the construction.

The lender, he added, will be required to provide the funding to PLN without a guarantee from the government. “[The mechanism] is similar to our global bonds issuance,” he said.

PLN is planning to shut down the operation of a 150 MW diesel-fuel power plant in Aceh when the Arun project is completed in 2014. Running a diesel-fuel power plant is more expensive than a gas-fired power plant.

PLN is attempting to reduce the rising cost of electricity generation by building more power plants that utilize less-costly power sources like coal and natural gas.

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