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The head of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, part of the state-owned Japan Finance Corporation, is keen to bankroll more geothermal power plants in Indonesia.

During a visit to Jakarta on Monday, JBIC executive director Fumio Hoshi said the bank, which is already funding a geothermal project here, was interested in expanding its investments in the renewable energy sector.

“I’m not going to say how much [the size of the investment will be] as we don’t have any limits but as long as Japanese companies are involved as sponsors, and in operations and maintenance, we are happy to support geothermal power projects in Indonesia,” he explained.

“We hope that we can finance more projects where Japanese companies could be involved.”

JBIC has already pledged $800 million to help finance the $990 million Sarulla geothermal plant in North Sumatra.

Part of phase two of the government’s fast-track electricity generation program, the plant is expected to come on stream next year and reach its full 440-megawatt capacity by 2015.

Sarulla is owned by a consortium consisting of Japan’s Itochu Corporation, Israel’s Ormat Corporation and local company PT Medco Energi International.

In September 2006, JBIC reached an agreement with the Finance Ministry to encourage the development of independent power producer projects in the country.

Last month the two parties stepped up cooperation by agreeing to hold regular consultation meetings focused on independent power projects and geothermal energy.

The second phase of the fast-track program, scheduled to be completed by 2015, will boost electricity generation capacity by 10,150 MW and will focus on cleaner technologies such as gas and geothermal.

State-owned electricity utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara is expected to spend $5.9 billion on the construction of 21 new power plants with a combined capacity of 5,118 MW as part of the second phase.

The government is aiming for independent power producers to provide the rest of the capacity by investing a total $10.05 billion in the construction of an additional 72 power plants.

PLN has already attracted financing from another Japanese organization, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, to help build one coal-fired power station and two geothermal projects that are part of phase two of the fast-track.