Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will earmark Rp1.162 trillion to cover the risks of a geothermal exploration project linked to a plan to construct power plants through a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, an official said.
"The House of Representatives (DPR) has approved Rp1.162 trillion and it will be settled with the ministry of finance so that the funds will be made available in 2011," Dedy Supriadi Priatna, deputy for infrastructure and facility affairs of the National Development Planning Agency (Beppenas), said.
He said the funds would be made available to cover the risk of the geothermal explorations yielding less than expected results in either qualitative or quantitative terms or sub-standard geothermal energy.
The government would cover the cost of the explorations if investors failed to find geothermal energy that met the requirements, Dedy said.
But if they were successful, the investors would cover their own exploration costs, he added. "Risks and interest will be borne by the investors," he said.
He said that the Rp1.162 trillion would be used to cover risks for six geothermal power plant projects whose construction would be started in 2011.(*)
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