NGOs urge government to review power contract with Siemens
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Power Sector Working Group (WGPSR), a grouping of several non-governmental organizations, urged the government to review a contract obtained by a Siemens-led consortium in the operation and maintenance of the Muara Tawar power plant over alleged irregularities.
WGPSR coordinator Fabby Tumiwa said in a press release on Saturday that the cost for the operation and maintenance work was too high, which would cause state-owned power firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), the owner of the power plant, to suffer huge losses.
"The Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises must look into such unprofessional action by (PLN's) board of directors. In fact, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) must audit the tender process of the project," Fabby said.
According to WGPSR, Siemens will charge PLN $2.69 per kilowatt hour (KwH) for operation and maintenance work at the gas-fired Muara Tawar plant. WPGSR said that the average fee for such work should be less than $1 per KwH.
"It (huge markup) would cost PLN between 13 U.S. cents to 14 U.S. cents to produce electricity per KwH which is higher than the current power rates of 6.68 U.S. cents per KwH," Fabby said.
"PLN would lose potential profits because of such a shoddy business contract and its own inefficiency," he added.
PLN officials were not available for comment.
The Siemens consortium, comprising PT Siemens Indonesia, PT Balfour Beatty Sakti Indonesia, Samsung Corporation and Siemens AG won a tender for the expansion project at the power plant in Bekasi, West Java valued $288.95 million last year.
The consortium is building six power units, each with a generating capacity of 100 Megawatts (MW) to 150 MW. It is scheduled to be completed in July this year.
The consortium also win the contract for operation and maintenance work.
WGPSR, which consists of a number of NGOs including consumer protection watchdog YLKI, also questioned why the contract was signed when the construction of the power plant is nearly completed.
According to Fabby, the maintenance contract was signed last month.
"Normally, the operation and maintenance contract should be signed much earlier," Fabby said.
He added that PLN actually had the ability to do the work by itself because the new plant uses the same technology as other gas-fired power plants operated by PLN.
Meanwhile, Yogo Pratomo, Director General of Electricity and Energy Utilization at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said the government would not interfere as long as price set by PLN to the public remains at a low rate, or less than 7 U.S. cents per KwH.
"It does not matter who operates the power plant as long as the electricity can be sold to the public at the standard rates," he said over the weekend.