Megawati inaugurates Asam-Asam power plant

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri inaugurated on Friday the Asam-Asam 130 Megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Tanah Laut regency, South Kalimantan, which is owned by PT Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of state electricity company PT PLN.

The power plant was inaugurated in a modest ceremony where the President did not make a speech but simply pressed the button to mark the start of operations at the plant, Antara reported.

Present at the ceremony, which was held at the province's capital, Banjarmasin, were, among others, Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and counselor Masaya Fujiwara of the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta.

In his speech during the ceremony, South Kalimantan's governor Sjachriel Darham explained that the development of the power plant had been financed with loans worth US$221 million from the World Bank and the Japanese government and another Rp 65 billion (US$6.3 million) from the state budget.

The governor said the plant would supply power to the province as well as the neighboring provinces of Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.

The plant will account for 65 percent of power supplies to the South Kalimantan province alone, he said.

The governor noted that the power plant currently has two power generating units with a combined capacity of 130 MW but Indonesia Power would further develop three other units to increase the plant's total capacity to 660 MW.

The power plant will consume 2,300 tons of coal per year but Indonesia Power will have no difficulty in securing coal supplies for the plant as the province is rich in coal reserves.

The Japanese Embassy said in a statement available to The Jakarta Post that the Japanese government had provided 6.5 billion yen ($48.9 million) in loan in 1994 to finance the development of the plant.

It said the Japanese government had willingly cofinanced the plant project because it considered that it would greatly contribute to the development of Kalimantan.

"The Japanese government, as an Asian partner, will continue to support fully the reform movement in Indonesia despite Japan's current financial difficulties," the embassy said.