German investor sells stake in Baturraden geothermal project

Drilling rig on site of Baturraden project, Central Java (source: PT SAE)

As reported last week, German company STEAG PE GmbH, the largest shareholder of Indonesian geothermal development company PT Sejahtera Alam Energy (SAE) announced that it has sold all of its shares in the Baturraden geothermal development project in Central Java.

The Baturraden project is located in the geothermal working area at Mount Slamet, in the Regencies of Brebes and Banyumas.  The working area has geothermal potential of 280 MW and has been planned to be developed as a 220 MW project.

In an announcement to the media April 23, 2001, PT SAE said that currently the controlling shareholder of the company is Nirwana Suci Abadi. The company is said to be buying 89 percent of the company’s shares from STEAG PE GmbH, Germany. It is not the first time the project has changed investors. In 2011, this working area shared shares with PT Adaro Power. Even so, this collaboration was later announced canceled.

Meanwhile, in an announcement in the media, PT Nirwana Suci Abadi, took over the shares of STEAG PE GmbH Germany. Even so, there was no mention of the amount of the acquisition value.  “The takeover has received approval from all shareholders of the company based on the minutes of the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on April 20, 2021,” wrote a further announcement.

The Baturraden had been experiencing problems. Two wells that have been drilled, namely wells H and F, did not produce sufficient output. Well F was declared a failure, while well H was in a maintenance status because it required further technology to be used as a production well. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in 2017 recorded that the total investment needed in the development of the Baturraden PLTP was USD 900 million, of which for the exploration stage it required around USD 75 million.

Source: Bisnis