Megawati inaugurates Asam-Asam power plant

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.