Electricity firm tendering power projects

Electricity firm tendering power projects

JAKARTA (JP): The state electricity company PT PLN will assign
private companies to construct 16 power generation projects with
a total capacity of 4,960 megawatts (MW) throughout the country
during the next five years.

"Of the 16 offered projects, six will be fired with coal and
four with natural gas, while the other six will be generated with
geothermal steam," the company's president Zuhal said in a
seminar here on Saturday.

"Contracts for the establishment of 10 of the projects have
been awarded to companies and the other six are still being
tendered," he said.

He said the six projects now being tendered include four
geothermal power plants in Wayang Windhu and Patuha, both in West
Java and each with a capacity of 40 MW, in Lumun Balai of South
Sumatra with a capacity of 120 MW and in Rajabasa of Lampung with
a capacity of 120 MW. The other two projects consist of one coal-
fired station in West Java with a capacity of 400 MW and a coal-
fired station in West Kalimantan with a capacity of 100 MW.

"I hope the contracts for the six projects will be signed by
the end of this year because we aim to increase the country's
generation capacity by 13,000 MW during the Sixth Five Year
Development Plan (Repelita VI) period," he said.

PLN itself will set up power plants with a total capacity of
8,040 MW during the same period.

The country currently has power stations with a total capacity
of over 12,000 MW.

Zuhal said that the Indonesian energy business trend is now
shifting to geothermal and coal-fired power projects due to the
anticipation of the rapid depletion of oil resources.

Projects

Zuhal said that the 10 projects which have been assigned to
private firms include six coal-fired and four gas-fueled power
plants.

Paiton Energy Corp. has been assigned to construct two coal-
fired power units with a combined capacity 1,230 MW in Paiton,
East Java; Hopewell Holdings Ltd. to build two coal-fired units
each with a capacity of 660 MW in Tanjung Jati, Central Java;
Energy Electric to set up a 50-MW coal-fired plant in Amurang,
North Sulawesi, and Cohasset Resources Inc. to establish two
coal-fired units, each with a capacity of 100 MW, in Tarahan,
Lampung.

British Gas Plc. will establishment a 400-MW gas-fueled power
plant in Serpong, West Java; PT Triharsa Sarana JP a 135-MW plant
in Sengkang of South Sulawesi, and Enron Devp. Corp a 130-MW
plant in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and a 500-MW station in East
Java.

PLN has also awarded a contract for the construction of a 120-
MW geothermal power plant in Dieng, Central Java, to Himpunan
Pengusaha Purnawira Bakti and a 120-MW geothermal power station
in Ulubelu, Lampung, to PT Enerindo Supra Abadi.

Foreign

Pandri Prabono, chairman of the Association of Indonesian
Engineering Companies, lamented on Saturday that major power
projects have been offered only to foreign companies.

"So far no Indonesian firm is considered qualified to be
shortlisted as lead firm or main contractor in major power
projects," Pandri said during the seminar.

He said the current practices of requalification and
shortlisting do not recognize the capability of Indonesian firms
as lead partners or main contractors.

He noted that some national engineering firms are ready to be
put onto the "testing ground" to see how they can compete with
foreign firms, both in technical and financial terms.

Realizing the weaknesses of the current shortlisting and
bidding practices, Pandri proposed successful synergic
cooperation among PLN, local and foreign engineering companies.
He expected the synergic cooperation to lead to the use of more
local components in power projects.

Zuhal acknowledged that local participation in major
electrical projects is very low, mostly below 20 percent. In the
design and engineering work, almost 100 percent is performed by
foreign contractors. (rid)