By Godang Sitompul
Geothermal power developer PT Supreme Energy Rantau Dedap (SERD) started on Saturday drilling of the first RD-13 well at the Rantau Dedap geothermal project in South Sumatra Province, marking the entry of the project into the exploitation phase.
A ceremony was held to officially start the drilling of the RD-13 well, which was also attended by senior government officials including Director General of New and Renewable Energy Rida Mulyana.
The RD-13 well is part of the 16 geothermal wells (comprising of 14 production wells and two injection wells) to be drilled by SERD, which plans to develop a combined 220 MW geothermal power plant in two stages, of which the first phase of 86 MW is targeted to start commercial operation in 2020, and the second phase of 134 MW in 2025, the company said.
SERD, which is owned by PT Supreme Energy, Marubeni Corp, Engie SA, and Tohoku Electric Power Co, reached financial close for first unit of the power plant project in March of this year with lenders including Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, raising loans totaling US$450 million.
SERD signed a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-owned electricity firm PT PLN in November of last year, revising upward the electricity tariff from the project to 11.76 US cents per kWh from the initial price of 8.86 US cents per kWh.
A consortium comprising of PT Rekayasa Industri and Fuji Electric Co has been appointed as the EPC contract of the power plant project.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
