Japan lending US$1bn to Indonesian power projects

The Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) is earmarking USD1 billion to fund two power projects in Indonesia. Fumio Hoshi, the bank's executive director, the projects include a steam-based power plant in Central Java and a geothermal power plant in Sarula, northern Sumatra according a report in journal Industrial Fuels and Power.

"At the moment there is a tender for Central Java's supercritical coal-fired power plant project, [the winner will be announced next month]," he said at the Indonesia International Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2011. "We're also working on the Salula geothermal power plant in North Sumatra."

Beside the two power plants, the JBIC is also considering the finance of other geothermal power plant projects in Sumatra, Hoshi added. Two Japanese companies identified at least four potential geothermal fields on Sumatra.