PLN may shut down more power plants

PLN may shut down more power plants

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

People living in Java and Bali are once again being told that
they should reduce power consumption to avoid blackouts, this
time due to the fact a number of power plants on these islands
may be forced to shut down due to lack of fuel.

Production from the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Tambak Lorok power
plant in Semarang might have to be halted within two days, Muljo
Adji, general manager of PT PLN's Java-Bali power distribution
center, said on Tuesday.

"Fuel will arrive tomorrow to Tambak Lorok," he said. "We may
have to shut the plant down if we cannot get the fuel unloaded in
time."

State power firm PT PLN announced on Monday that it had to
shut the Grati power plant in Pasuruan, East Java, as diesel
supplies had run out.

Muljo added, however, that the 750-MW power plant could start
full operations again on Wednesday. "We've already unloaded
enough fuel to operate five 100-MW generators this evening
(Tuesday)," he said.

Both Tambak Lorok and Grati supply electricity to the Java-
Bali grid, which requires some 14,500 MW of power during peak
times of between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

A spokesman for PLN's Jakarta and Tangerang areas, Ario
Subijoko, said Jakarta saw a deficit of 190 MW on Tuesday.

Areas that were scheduled for rotating blackouts on Tuesday
included Penggilingan and Cipinang in East Jakarta, Petukangan in
South Jakarta, Kebun Jeruk in West Jakarta and several areas in
Tangerang, he said.

When speaking on Tuesday, Ario said that no schedule had yet
been drawn up for Wednesday

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina announced on Monday that
domestic fuel stocks had fallen to 17.5-days supply on average,
with domestic consumers as well as industry being affected.

The company's president director, Widya Purnama, told the
House of Representatives that Premium gasoline stocks were
critical, with only 12.7-days supply left, while there was enough
diesel left to last for 14.5 days.

Kerosene stocks remained safe at 25.3 days.

Widya said that Pertamina had started unloading 3.2 million
barrels of fuel products and stocks would return to more than 20-
days supply on June 24 or June 25.

The Tambak Lorok and Grati power plants need 4,500 kiloliters
and 2,500 kiloliters of diesel fuel respectively.

Aside from fuel shortages at these plants, the 100-MW Gili
Manuk power plant in Bali only has enough fuel for three more
days, said Muljo.

Fuel stocks at Jakarta's Muara Tawar power plant, which has a
capacity of 840 MW, were sufficient to last for another week.

Earlier this month, when rotating blackouts threatened Java
and Bali as a result of gas supplies to several power plants
being interrupted for two weeks, PLN launched a campaign
requesting residents to turn off two lights per house, thus save
50 watts of power.

Thanks to the cooperation of the public, there were only minor
blackouts at the time, all of which were due to other causes.