DEN Instructs PLN to Audit Coal-Fired Power Plant Capability
We cannot solely blame the coal supply; technical aspects must also be integrated into the evaluation.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - National Energy Council (DEN) member Satya Widya Yudha has instructed PT PLN (Persero) to check the power capacity of coal-fired power plants (PLTU) to detect potential disruptions.
“I also conveyed to the President Director of PLN (Darmawan Prasodjo) some time ago, please check the power capacity,” Satya stated during the event ‘Maintaining Coal Supply for National Needs’ held in Jakarta on Tuesday.
According to the official website of the Directorate General of Electricity (Ditjen Gatton) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), power capacity refers to the actual capacity of a power plant to generate electricity.
Satya noted that the Java 1–7 PLTU plants are approximately 40 years old. According to Satya, this age factor causes the actual power capacity of these plants to differ from their installed capacity.
“For example, if the installed capacity is calculated at 3,600 megawatts (MW), the actual power capacity might be below that,” said Satya.
This issue must be part of the evaluation of all PLTU capabilities in Indonesia. In addition to the age of the plants, Satya outlined several other factors affecting PLTU capacity, such as maintenance and coal specifications.
According to Satya, solutions will become more complex if the problem faced by PLN is a decline in PLTU power capacity.
“Therefore, a technology audit for each PLTU is necessary so that we can know its characteristics precisely. We cannot just blame the coal side; technical aspects must also be part of a unified evaluation,” said Satya.
President Director of PT PLN (Persero), Darmawan Prasodjo, stated that the company will retrofit coal-fired power plants to enable the use of low-calorific coal, thereby preventing rotational blackouts.
Darmawan explained that through retrofitting, power plants can utilise lower-calorific coal. He cited the retrofitting of Suralaya 6 and 7 PLTU as a reference for the success of such modifications.
Both units are now capable of using low-calorific coal, approximately 4,100–4,300 kcal/kg, which is lower than the original specification requiring 4,600–4,800 kcal/kg.
Darmawan believes that PLTU modification could serve as a long-term solution to address the supply issues of medium-rank or medium-calorific coal.
Currently, Darmawan noted, the production of low-calorific coal is higher than the production of medium to high-calorific coal.
The supply constraints of medium-calorific coal were the cause of the rotational blackouts implemented by PLN in mid-June 2024.