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)