Bali geothermal plant revived

Tony Hotland, Jakarta

A local company has revived a geothermal power plant project located in Bedugul, Bali, which was suspended by the government in 1997 following the regional financial crisis.

IB Ngurah Wijaya, the president of PT Bali Energy Limited (BEL), which has taken over management of the project, said on Sunday that the company would start running production tests on a geothermal well in the month and a half.

"We've seen indications of good results from the geothermal well. It is estimated to be able to produce seven to 10 megawatts (MW) of power," he was quoted by Antara.

Wijaya added that BEL would exploit the geothermal field in a cooperation contract with state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, under which the former would get 96 percent of profit and the latter 4 percent.

Once the plant comes into operation, the power will be sold to state electric company PT PLN.

"We'll keep the price below 5 U.S. cents per KwH (kilo watt per hour) ... similar to the price PLN pays when purchasing energy produced from hydropower plants, petroleum, natural gas, or coal generators," he said.

Located around 30 kilometers from Denpasar, the power plant will have four units. Unit 1 will start producing 10 MW of power in April, 2006; Unit 2 to produce 55 MW in June, 2003; Unit 3 produce 55 MW on June, 2009; and Unit 4 to produce 55 MW in 2010.

The government decided to continue the project in Bedugul last year after suspending it along with dozens of other power projects in 1998.

It was once owned by giant power company CalEnergy International of the United States, which later changed its name into MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. In addition to Bedugul, the company also runs two other power plants, one in Patuha, West Java, and another in Dieng, Central Java.

The government had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the American firm in compensation for suspending the project.