Bukit Asam to pipe coal

Bukit Asam to pipe coal

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam plans
to pipe coal from its Tanjung Enim mine in South Sumatra to the
Suralaya coal-fired power plant in West Java from next year.

Antara quoted local officials in Palembang, South Sumatra, as
saying that construction of the pipeline would require at least a
US$400 million investment. And that an environmental impact
assessment was underway.

The pipeline, 360-kilometers long, 10-millimeters thick and
66-centimeters in diameter, would run across the Sunda Straits
between southern Sumatra and West Java. Two boosters would push
the coal, pre-dissolved in water before being blown into the
pipeline.

It costs about $10 a ton to transport the coal by train and
barges. (pwn)