PLN plans to build 12 hydropower plants

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State electricity firm PT PLN is planning to build 12 hydropower plants across the nation to meet the growing demand for electricity.

The 12 include nine with a total generation capacity of 447 megawatts (MW), to be funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and three with a combined capacity of 9.9 MW, to be funded by the state budget, the firm said in a statement presented on Thursday during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission VIII, which oversees energy affairs.

On the sidelines of the meeting, PLN director of generation and primary energy Ali Herman Ibrahim declined to specify the total investment for the project, saying the construction cost would be about US$1.5 million per megawatt of capacity.

Among the projects are the 210 MW Musi plant, South Sumatra, and the 82 MW Renun plant, North Sumatra.

He said the projects were expected to be completed in 2006.

Apart from the 12 power projects, the firm will start building 10 more hydropower plants next year in North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Papua, East Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara. PLN has secured financing from the ADB for the 10 projects, which have a combined capacity of 61.9 MW.

PLN has also secured financing from JBIC to build two other power plants, the 150 MW Asahan project, North Sumatra, and the 130 MW Kusan project, South Kalimantan. However, it did not specify when construction on the projects would start.

In addition, PLN, in partnership with private firms, would build four hydropower plants with a total capacity of 677 MW.

PLN said the above projects were among the 72 hydropower projects the firm was planning to develop in the coming years to meet the nation's growing demand for power.