Indonesia's PLN pulls out of bid for Chevron geothermal units

Centrum Medyczne Enel-med SA

03/11/2016 08:39

By Wilda Asmarini 
    JAKARTA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia's PT Perusahaan Listrik 
Negara (PLN) PLNEG.UL  has opted out of a tender for geothermal 
assets on offer from U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp  CVX.N , 
citing governance concerns, an official at the state electricity 
utility said on Thursday. 
    "We are not going to bid. We are backing down because of 
governance," PLN corporate planning director Nicke Widyawati 
told reporters.  
    "We see that data on governance is not complete, and hasn't 
been fulfilled so we cannot provide a price proposal," she 
added, noting that PLN had only been interested in the assets 
for sale in Indonesia. 
    "We bought the electricity from them this whole time so 
actually we know their performance and we were very eager, but 
as a state-owned enterprise we must follow good corporate 
governance." 
    Widyawati said she was unable to immediately comment 
further. A spokeswoman for Chevron Geothermal in Jakarta did not 
answer calls or respond to a written request for comment on the 
matter. 
    Earlier this week, Widyawati was quoted in local newspaper 
The Jakarta Post saying Chevron had not provided PLN with 
audited financial reports from the Indonesian geothermal units 
despite repeated requests.  
    Chevron has two subsidiaries that operate two geothermal 
plants on the Indonesian island of Java, providing steam for 
nearly 600 megawatts of electricity in total, or enough for 
about 3 million homes. 
    Meanwhile, Fazil E. Alfitri, the chief executive of Medco 
Power, a unit of Indonesia's PT Medco Energi Internasional 
 MEDC.JK , said on Tuesday his company was still in the running 
for the Chevron assets, including sites in Indonesia and in the 
Philippines, estimated to be worth $3 billion.  
    Italian utility Enel  ENEI.MI , French utility Engie 
 ENGIE.PA , Japan's Marubeni  8002.T , Thailand's Banpu Power 
 BPP.BK  and the Philippines' Aboitiz Power Corp  AP.PS , have 
all expressed plans to bid for the assets. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N17A08R urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N18T358     
 
 (Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) 
 ((fergus.jensen@thomsonreuters.com; +62 21 2992 7604; Reuters 
Messaging: fergus.jensen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: CHEVRON GEOTHERMAL/PLN