The State-owned Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) recently realized a financial close for its power plant project in Bengkulu, Indonesia.
The news came after a signing ceremony held between PowerChina Resources, LTD and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Beijing on June 30.
According to PowerChina Resources, the financial close will guarantee the funds for the follow-up construction on the project and provides PowerChina Resources with practical experience for future investment projects in Indonesia.
ICBC, representing a bank consortium for the project, issued a notice for the financial close to the Bengkulu Power Generation Company Limited at the ceremony, discussing thee plans for the project’s construction and financing in the process.
The bank consortium, consisting of ICBC and the Export-Import Bank of China, will provide financial services for the project, and made a joint effort with PowerChina to realize the financial close.
As PowerChina’s first coal-fired power plant in Indonesia, the Bengkulu Project has faced many difficulties and challenges during financing. PowerChina Resources established a special work team to cooperate with the local project operator going through abundant complicated procedures and overcoming major obstacles for the financial close.
The project, located on Sumatra Island, consists of the coal-fired station with an installed capacity of 2x100 megawatts, a 150kV transmission line, a coal unloading terminal and supporting facilities.
The 25-year Build-Own-Operate-Transfer project is expected to supply around 1.4 GWh of electricity every year, and will be fully operational in Feburary 2020.
PowerChina Resources initiated the project in 2014 and signed an agreement with Indonesian partners on Nov 25, 2015.
The construction of the Bengkulu Project is in full swing. Upon its completion, the project will effectively ease the Sumatra Island’s power supply shortage, improve infrastructures, create job opportunities and help boost local development.
