Austindo Commissions Biogas Power Plant

Jakarta, Jan 13 (Antara) - PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Tbk (ANJT) through subsidiary PT Austindo Aufwind New Energy has set into operation a bio-gas fired power plant in Belitung built at a cost of US$3.5 million . Austindo Nusantara Jaya president Suwito Anggoro said in a statement here on Monday the company used US$1 million from the fund it raised from a recent initial public offering (IPO) to help finance the construction of the facility. "We chose to build the facility in Belitung considering a number of factors such as the availability of infrastructure and support from the local authorities," Suwito said. The bio-gas power plant has a capacity of 1.2 megawatts generated from palm oil waste from the company`s oil palm plantations in Belitung. A subsidiary of the company PT Sahabat Mewah dan Makmur has 14,230 hectares of oil palm plantation in Belitung with a palm oil processing plant having a processing capacity of 60 tons of palm fresh fruit bunches per hour. Suwito said his company would build such power plants in its oil palm plantations in other areas in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua. "The power generated by the plants would be supplied to the system of state power utility company PT PLN at a price of Rp975 per kWh under a Power Purchase Agreement," he said.