Geo Energy to jointly develop coal-fired power plants in Indonesia

INTEGRATED coal-mining group, Geo Energy Resources, has entered into an agreement with China Nuclear Industry 22nd Construction (CNI22) to jointly develop coal-fired power stations in Indonesia.

CNI22 is a diversified Chinese state-owned enterprise with businesses including nuclear power projects, civil projects construction, power plant projects, and the import and export of goods and technology.

Under the cooperation agreement, Geo Energy and CNI22 have agreed to cooperate on a non-exclusive basis for a period of two years.

Geo Energy will be responsible for procuring projects for constructing, operating and managing the power stations in Indonesia, as well as for obtaining all government permits required for such projects.

Thereafter, CNI22 will construct the power stations on a turnkey basis as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to Geo Energy. It will be responsible for the management and operation of the power stations and for coordinating the procurement of the necessary financing and all technology required for the purposes of ensuring the efficient, effective and up-to-date engineering, construction, operation and management of the power stations.

Commenting on the agreement with CNI22, Geo Energy's executive chairman, Charles Antonny Melati, said: "This relationship will be highly synergistic as both parties have complementary skill sets to ensure the successful completion and running of the power plants.

"This plan also complements our core business by creating our own coal demand and will ensure stable and cheaper supplies to the power plants in the future."

On Monday afternoon, trading of Geo Energy's shares were halted, pending the release of the announcement. Trading is expected to resume on Tuesday morning.