PT BA seeks to solve problems at Suralaya<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Publicly listed state coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit
\nAsam (PT BA) plans to buy up to 250,000 tons of coal to increase
\nsupplies for the Suralaya power plant in West Java, which is now
\nfacing a coal shortage.<\/p>\n
Company operations director Sukrisno said the company was
\nstill negotiating with a coal producer in Kalimantan, which he
\ndeclined to identify, on the purchase plan, and hoped it could
\ndeliver coal from June to December.<\/p>\n
"It's still not sufficient for Suralaya, but at least it can
\nreduce the shortage," Sukrisno said on the sidelines of a hearing
\non Wednesday with House of Representatives Commission VIII, which
\noversees energy and mining issues.<\/p>\n
With the additional supplies, PT BA is expected to supply a
\ntotal of 5.6 million (m) tons to Suralaya this year, but under
\nthe contract with public utility PT Indonesia Power, the owner of
\nSuralaya, it has to supply 7.3m tons per annum to the power
\nplant.<\/p>\n
Coal supply to Suralaya has declined over the past few months,
\nas a collapsed bridge has hampered coal delivery from PT BA's
\nTanjung Enim mine site, South Sumatra, to Tarahan port, Lampung.<\/p>\n
A reduced coal supply caused Suralaya, whose capacity of 3,400
\nmegawatts makes it the largest power plant in Java, to supply
\nless electricity to the Java-Bali power grid last month.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, PT BA president Ismeth Harmaini said the company
\nwas now in talks to acquire a coal mine in Kalimantan to increase
\nits production by 2 million to 3 million tons.<\/p>\n
"We can supply the new production capacity to Suralaya and
\nother buyers," Ismeth said.<\/p>\n
He declined to name the company that owns the coal mine but
\nsaid PT BA had made ready some US$50 million to finance the
\nacquisition plan.<\/p>\n
The company produced 10.03m tons of coal in 2003, less than
\nhalf of its annual capacity of 22m tons. It has revised downward
\nits output target for this year from 10.2m tons to 9.3m tons due
\nto the unresolved transportation problems.<\/p>\n
The firm proposes to form a consortium with PT Indonesia Power
\nand state railway company PT KAI to improve and upgrade the
\nrailway network.<\/p>\n
PT BA proposes to raise the capacity of coal trains to 12.5m
\ntons per year from Tanjung Enim to Tarahan and 2.5m tons from
\nTanjung Enim to Kertapati port in Palembang in 2007. The project
\nis estimated to cost around Rp 1.7 trillion.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pt-ba-seeks-to-solve-problems-at-suralaya-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}