PLN drops bid for Chevron’s Java assets

Indonesia’s state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is dropping a bid to buy two geothermal plants owned by Chevron on the island of Java, corporate planning director Nicke Widyawati told journalists on Thursday.

“We see that data on governance is not complete and hasn’t been fulfilled, so we cannot provide a price proposal,” Widyawati said, quoted by Reuters. “We bought the electricity from them this whole time, so actually we know their performance and we were very eager, but as a state-owned enterprise we must follow good corporate governance.”

The Darajat and Salak plants, with a combined capacity of 647 MW, are part of several geothermal assets in Asia Chevron is hoping to sell for a total of some USD 3 billion.

Other bidders for the units, including Italy’s Enel, France’s Engie, Japan’s Marubeni, Thailand’s Banpu Power, the Philippines’s Aboitiz Power and Indonesia’s Medco Energi Internasional, are reportedly still interested in the Chevron assets.