Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Indonesia’s state-owned electricity company, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), on Tuesday signed six long-term credit facilities with a combined value of 10 trillion rupiah ($1.1 billion) from major domestic banks to fund its power plant projects.
Under its “crash program” to develop an additional 10,000 megawatts in generation capacity, the Indonesian government plans to build coal-fired power plants across the country by 2010 to ease the power shortage.
Yogo Pratomo, PLN official who chairs the program, said the loan facilities will be used to fund the development of coal-fired steam power plants in the town of Pacitan in Java island, Teluk Naga and Pelabuhan Ratu; Gorontalo and North Sulawesi in Sulawesi island; as well as in Riau island, East Nusa Tenggara and Central Kalimantan.
Among the banks that extended the loan facilities include Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Bukopin and Bank Mega. Bank Mega alone provided long-term credit worth 4.6 trillion rupiah.
The loan facilities have a tenor of between 10 to 13 years.
“The large funding is an evidence of the strong support the domestic bank market is providing to the success of the crash program,” Pratomo was quoted by Thomson Financial as saying.
The loans were fully guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance.