Malaysia's Sikap, RI's Bukaka sign power deal

Malaysia's Sikap, RI's Bukaka sign power deal

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's Sikap Power Management Services Sdn. Bhd. and Indonesia's PT Bukaka Teknik Utama are to sign a deal to build a coal-fired power plant and a regional power grid at a cost of nearly US$10 billion, a report said yesterday.

Believed to be Southeast Asia's largest integrated power project, the proposed plant would produce up to 5,000 megawatts while the grid would channel the generated energy to Malaysia, Indonesia, and possibly Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, the Business Times reported.

The paper said the venture, to form part of the ambitious ASEAN power grid, would be signed Saturday in Jakarta in the presence of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who begins Friday a two-day working visit to Indonesia.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The project, to be financed equally by Malaysian and Indonesian parties, would take 15-to-20 years to complete, Ravindra Nathan, the executive director of Sikap Power Management Services, was quoted saying.

Sikap, an associate of listed Malaysian Resources Corp. Bhd., would lead a consortium of Malaysian companies in the venture, while PT Bukaka Teknik Utama would head a group of Indonesian firms.

The newspaper said the project's cost was estimated at about $9.5 billion, with $7.5 billion envisaged for the coal-fired plant and $2 billion for the overland transmission lines and submarine cables making up the power grid.