AboitizPower pursues new Indonesian project

MANILA, Philippines - Aboitiz Power Corp. is pursuing another renewable energy power project in Indonesia with the development of a 127-megawatt (MW) hydropower facility.

AboitizPower disclosed yesterday it entered into an agreement with SN Power AS and PT Energi Infranusantara for feasibility studies for the exploration and development of a 127-MW hydropower generation project along the Lariang River in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The three companies will invest in the project vehicle PT Auriga Energi, which was awarded the basic license to develop the resource.

AboitizPower president and COO Antonio Moraza said in a text message the firm will be taking “between 30 and 40 percent” interest in the joint venture.

Currently, PT Auriga is conducting pre-feasibility studies on the hydropower resource.

Established in 2012, PT Energi Infranusantara is a special purpose vehicle of Indonesian infrastructure giant PT Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk to develop renewable energy projects.

On the other hand, Norway-based SN Power, which is jointly owned by hydropower developer Statkraft and risk capital investor Norfund, invests in hydropower projects in emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

In 2007, the Norwegian power firm partnered with AboitizPower for the purchase of the Ambuklao-Binga hydroelectric power plants through a competitive bidding, which it bagged for $325 million.

The hydropower project is AboitizPower’s second investment in Indonesia.

Last week, the company announced its wholly-owned Singapore-based subsidiary AboitizPower International Pte. Ltd. partnered with PT Medco Power Indonesia to develop a potential 2x55-MW greenfield geothermal plant in East Java province. It will take in 49 percent in the project company PT Medco Cahaya.

The Aboitiz Group first bared plans to expand its power business overseas, particularly in Southeast Asia, last year.

At home, AboitizPower continues to expand its Cleanergy brand portfolio of power projects as its looks for more potential areas across the country, mainly through geothermal, hydro and solar power sources.