Japan's JERA sells stake in Indonesia's coal power plants operator

FILE PHOTO: The logo of JERA Co., Inc., the world's biggest LNG buyer, is displayed at the company office in Tokyo, Japan July 14, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's biggest power generator JERA said on Friday it had sold its 14% stake in Indonesia's PT Paiton Energy, which operates coal power plants, to a unit of energy company PT Medco Daya Abadi Lestari for an undisclosed sum.

The move comes as companies worldwide step up their efforts to offload coal-related assets amid pressure to reduce exposure to fossil fuels to cut harmful carbon dioxide emissions and slow climate change.

Paiton Energy owns and operates coal-fired power plants in Indonesia under a long-term power purchase agreement with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the Indonesian national electricity power company.

"The decision to sell our stake was based on a comprehensive assessment of profitability and business environment among other factors, and not solely on a decarbonisation perspective," a JERA spokesperson said.

JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc, aims to achieve net zero emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050.

"We will continue to realign our portfolio through asset sales and reinvestments to achieve an optimal asset mix in line with changes in the business environment and to grow our profits," the spokesperson added.

Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co also said in June that it had agreed to sell its stake in PT Paiton Energy.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

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