Jakarta –
The government plans to merge or merge the BUMN subsidiaries in the geothermal sector. The three companies concerned are subsidiaries of PT Pertamina (Persero), PT PLN (Persero) and PT Geo Dipa Energi (Persero).
In this regard, SOE Minister Erick Thohir opened his voice. He said he spoke to the finance minister Sri Muliani Idrawing
“Well, Geo Dipa is under the Ministry of Finance (Ministry of Finance). There have been talks with the Ms. Finance Minister about this, but it needs consolidation,” he said after the Kalla Group’s anniversary event at the Kempinski Hotel, Friday (10/28/2022).
Upon requesting information, Sri Mulyani made only a brief comment.
“See you later,” said Sri Mulyani after the #DemiIndonesia detikcom event at the Ciputra Artpreneur Theater in Jakarta on Saturday (29/10/2022).
Meanwhile, Erick assessed that consolidation could make SOEs more efficient. Furthermore, if the assets are attractive, the merger opportunities are more open.
Erick said Indonesia is indeed accelerating the use of renewable energy. In addition, the need for electricity for the community, industry and others is increasing. Therefore, sustainable energy growth is needed to achieve this goal.
Indonesia’s renewable energy potential is in the fields of hydroelectricity, wind, solar and geothermal energy. For hydroelectricity, Erick said he still had to wait another 8 years. Therefore, one of the potentials right now is geothermal energy.
“Hydropower is still 8 years away, one of our potentials is in geothermal, where the potential is 24 gigawatts. With Pertamina now starting to focus on renewable energy,” he said.
However, Pertamina is said to be still strengthening its financial footing. The reason is to increase the production power requires additional funds. With the consolidation, Erick believes that geothermal development will be much more effective and efficient.
“With this geothermal Pertamina once again strengthens its financial basis. Because from 800 megawatts it wants to increase it to 1 gigawatt, it needs financing. It needs funds,” explained Erick.
Erick also mentioned that renewable energy is potentially more expensive than fossil energy. According to him, the company and the players in the sector are not necessarily willing to pay more for it.
(hn / hn)
