Marubeni Corp and GDF Suez, together with local construction company PT Supreme Energy are to participate in a geothermal power plant project in Indonesia.
The three partners will begin by conducting an energy resource study in the geothermally active region of Rantau Dedap in southern Sumatra. A joint venture company with Marubeni holding the leading 35% stake will be set up to oversee the advancement of the business plan, which involves building a 220 MW geothermal power plant scheduled to go into operation in 2016. Total outlay is estimated at 700-800 million dollars, roughly 56-64 billion yen.
The joint venture will run the plant as an independent power producer, providing operations and maintenance services and signing a long-term contract to sell the electricity to Indonesia’s state-run power company.
Marubeni intends to approach Japanese heavy electrical machinery manufacturers for the high performance generation equipment considered to be essential for the plant. Sumitomo Corp and other heavy electrical machinery makers similarly involved in such projects are discovering a range of business opportunities as geothermal power development plans are drawn up by governments of the volcanically active countries of southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim,
