AboitizPower exits geothermal exploration in Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines – Aboitiz Power Corporation has withdrawn plans to explore and develop a greenfield geothermal plant in Indonesia, to re-allocate its resources for other ongoing and pipeline projects.

Aboitiz said it will step aside to allow its partner, PT Medco Power Indonesia, to proceed with the exploration and development of a potential 2×55-megawatt (MW) geothermal power plant in Ijen, East Java Province.

Aboitiz told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, January 31, that it has decided to exit from the greenfield geothermal exploration and development project of its wholly-owned Singapore-based subsidiary, AboitizPower International Private Limited.

“AboitizPower has decided that it will focus and allocate its resources for other ongoing and pipeline projects,” Aboitiz assistant corporate secretary Mailene de la Torre said in the disclosure.

In September 2015, AboitizPower entered into an agreement with PT Medco Power Indonesia to participate in the exploration and development of a geothermal power plant.

Other than its exploration project in Indonesia, AboitizPower had also shelved plans to expand its 300-MW coal-fired power plant, the first new power plant to operate in Mindanao in the last 10 years.

Early this month, two units of AboitizPower passed a surveillance audit, ensuring the Philippine government that it conforms to the standards of its ISO 9001 certifications.

The audit for its units Therma Luzon Incorporated (TLI) and Therma South Incorporated (TSI) was conducted by an affiliate of German technical services provider TUV Rheinland Group.

TLI owns the 700-MW Pagbilao thermal power plant in Quezon, while TSI owns and operates the two-unit thermal power plant each with a capacity of 150 MW in Davao City and Davao del Sur.

AboitizPower is the power arm of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Incorporated – the listed holding firm of Aboitiz-owned businesses, which also include real estate, food, and banking. – Rappler.com