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A subsidiary of energy and infrastructure firm Dian Swastatika Sentosa has appointed two Chinese engineering companies to help build two power plants in South Sumatra.

In a filing with the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Monday, the company said that DSSP Power Sumsel over the weekend had signed “an equipment supply contract” with China National Electric Engineering.

A second engineering and construction contract was awarded to Harbin Power System Engineering & Research Institute.

The two companies secured a total of $300 million in contracts from Dian Swastatika, Hermawan Tarjono, the Indonesian firm’s corporate secretary, said on Monday. The entire project is valued $400 million

Dian Swastatika is building two 150-megawatt steam power plants in South Sumatra that will eventually supply electricity to state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara.

Construction of the plants is expected to take three years. They are scheduled to start commercial operation by 2015, the filing to the IDX said.

Hermawan said about 20 percent to 30 percent of the project would be financed by Dian Swastatika’s internal cash.

Dian Swastatika has been in talks with several domestic banks and a few banks from China about the rest of the financing, he said, but it is still early and the company has been focusing on the contracts.

“The negotiations with the Chinese contractors were very intensive,” Hermawan said “The negotiations stretched on for about four months.”

In November last year, L. Krisnan Cahya, president director of Dian Swastatika, said proceeds from the initial public offering of its coal mining unit, Golden Energy Mines, would help the company fund the power plant project.

It raised about $500 million from the share sale.

Shares of Dian Swastatika rose 1.4 percent to close at Rp 11,000 on Monday. They have lost 4.1 percent this year.