PLN secures CNG supply from Medco<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Amid soaring global oil prices, state power firm PT PLN plans to
\nget compressed natural gas (CNG) for its power plants from PT
\nMedco Energi Internasional's Senoro field in Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
\non the gas supply on Sept. 20, PLN's director of power plants and
\nprimary energy generation Ali Herman Ibrahim said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"The CNG will be used for our plants in Bali, South Sulawesi,
\nand Southeast Sulawesi,\" said Ali in a telephone interview. He
\ndid not name which plants would use the CNG.<\/p>\n
PLN expects to get about 100 million standard cubic feet per
\nday (mmscfd) of CNG, which will be enough to generate 100
\nmegawatts of power.<\/p>\n
\"We hope to get the project moving by 2008,\" said Ali.<\/p>\n
Medco's corporate secretary Andi Karamoy said that under the
\nMOU, a task force would be formed to study the feasibility of the
\nCNG supply.<\/p>\n
\"We will study the possibility (of supplying the gas) in more
\ndetail,\" said Andi.<\/p>\n
The Senoro block in Southeast Sulawesi has a proven reserve of
\n1.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and a probable reserve of
\nanother 1.1 tcf.<\/p>\n
As global oil prices soar and PLN's need for oil-based fuel
\nrose above the quota set by the government, the company is
\nlooking for cheaper sources of power.<\/p>\n
A study conducted recently by a consortium that includes
\nKorea's Samsung and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. shows that sea
\ntransportation for CNG is viable for a supply of between 150
\nmmscfd and 250 mmscfd with a distance of between 500 nautical
\nmiles and 1,000 nautical miles.<\/p>\n
Bali was selected to be a pilot project for the use of CNG in
\npower plants.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a separate event, Ali said that PLN was ready to
\noperate its first power plant to use liquefied petroleum gas
\n(LPG) in late September.<\/p>\n
The power plant, which would be a pilot project for the use of
\nLPG to generate power, is located in Jambi and has a capacity of
\n6 MW, Ali was quoted as saying by detik.com news portal.<\/p>\n
The power plant previously used diesel fuel and has been
\nmodified to accommodate pressurized LPG. Some 30 tons of
\npressurized LPG per day will be provided by Medco from its Kanji
\nfield in South Sumatra.<\/p>\n
PLN planned to convert four power plants -- Tambak Lorok,
\nSunyaragi, Siantan, and Sei Kledang -- to use LPG in the first
\nphase of its fuel diversification project. It is still unclear,
\nhowever, from where the company will get 2,350 tons of LPG per
\nday to generate a total of 361 MW of electricity.<\/p>\n
Combined-cycle power plants like Tambak Lorok, Sunyaragi, and
\nSiantan can operate on natural gas, but are forced to use
\npetroleum fuel as the gas supply is not available yet.<\/p>\n
Several analysts have questioned the use of LPG to generate
\npower, as PLN will have to build regasification terminals near
\nthe plants. Such a scheme will prove to be cost-ineffective as
\nthe terminals will be of no use once natural gas starts flowing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pln-secures-cng-supply-from-medco-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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