Indonesia needs US$26 billion for its power projects

Indonesia needs US$26 billion for its power projects

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will increase its power generation
capacity by 13,000 megawatts (MW) during the newly begun Sixth
Five Year Development Plan (Repelita VI) to meet rapidly
increasing demand for electricity, a minister says.

State Minister of Research and Technology Habibie told a press
conference after opening the 1994 Indonesian Energy Symposium
yesterday that the capacity expansion will need total investments
of US$26 billion.

Habibie, who is also chairman of the Agency for Technology
Assessment and Application (BPPT), said the power development
will double the country's total electricity capacity.

He said the country has to obtain the proper technology to
carry out its planned power capacity.

The president of the state-owned electricity company (PLN),
Zuhal, told the symposium that the country's demand for
electricity will likely reach 18,800 MW in the coming ten years
growth.

He said the company will meet the demand by increasing its
generation capacity by 24,000 MW, while private companies are
expected to build power facilities with a total capacity of 7,475
MW.

Diversification

A deputy chairman of the National Development Planning Board
(Bappenas), Rahadi Ramelan, said that in line with the
government's policy on energy diversification, the role of oil in
power generation will be reduced from 41.2 percent, where it
stands at present, to 30.8 percent in the coming five years.

Indonesia, therefore, will increase the use of coal, natural
gas, wind, solar energy, water and geothermal steam in generating
electricity, he said.

Samaun Samadikun, chairman of the National Institute of
Science (LIPI), said Indonesia actually has abundant resources of
geothermal steam but its ability to utilize them is still
limited.

The country has geothermal energy resources capable of
generating more than 15,000 MW of electricity, equivalent to the
production of 15 nuclear power plants, he said.

But up to now, the country has only been able to tap 250 MW
from geothermal sources.

Nengah Sudja, a PLN executive, told the meeting that the
company is scheduled to build an undersea cable transmission
network next year. This will have a capacity of transmitting 150
kilovolts (KV) and will link its coal-fired steam power station
in Suralara at the western tip of Java with Lampung, the southern
province of Sumatra.

PLN currently operates four power units in Suralaya, each with
a capacity of 400 MW. It is now constructing three other units
each with a capacity of 600 MW.

Sudja said the undersea cable will serve to interconnect
Sumatra, Java and Bali because the last two islands, the most
populated in Indonesia, have already been linked.(02)