Germans lend $30m to PLN in Sulawesi

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: A German bank has loaned Indonesia's state-owned electricity company PT PLN approximately US$30 million to build a high-voltage electricity distribution network for South and Southeast Sulawesi, PLN general manager Rachmadi Danoe Atmadja said here on Monday.

The network will extend over an area of 280 kilometers, stretching from the districts of Bone, Bulukumba, Bantaeng, Jeneponto, Takalar, Sidrap, Tanatoraja and Palopo, he said.

The construction of the 150-kilovolt electricity distribution network began in 2003 and will be completed in 2005 in coincidence with the operation of several new power plants in the region, he said.

Rachmadi said the new facilities would hopefully reduce electricity disruptions in the greater Makassar area, where 60 percent of the total number of electricity subscribers in the region exist. --Antara