PLN to operate plants using diesel fuel to secure supply
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State firm PT PLN will use diesel fuel to operate its two of its power plants to ensure Java and Bali electricity supplies are stable when the Muara Tawar gas field goes off-stream.
PLN would produce only 800 megawatts (MW) from the Karang and Tanjung Priok plants for 14 days, about half of their capacity, the firm's director of power plants and primary energy generation Ali Herman Ibrahim said in the city on Monday.
"(However) such a level of production is enough to secure supplies," he said.
Fears of power supply disruptions emerged as BP announced plans to shut down all operations and conduct a massive overhaul -- the first in 30 years of operation -- to repair all damaged infrastructure at Muara Tawar.
The overhaul is scheduled to begin on May 23 and is expected to last for two weeks.
It was earlier reported that the Java-Bali grid could experience a shortage of up to 700 MW at peak times if the Karang and Tanjung Priok plants were forced to shut down because of a lack of gas.
BP supplies some 260 million cubic feet of gas per day to the plants, which have a combined capacity of 1,500 MW. However, as both stations use combined-cycle technology, they can also be operated using diesel fuel.
"But when they use fuel, they cannot operate at maximum (capacity)," Ali said.
PLN will need almost 90,000 tons of diesel fuel from state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina for the overhaul period.
"To produce one megawatt of power, we need eight tons of fuel," said Ali.
The state firm paid back Rp 600 million (US$63,157) of what it owed state fuel Pertamina this month and has promised to pay another Rp 200 million by the end of April.
PLN has planned to reduce its use of oil to less than 5 percent by 2006, by phasing out its diesel-powered generators to be replaced by combined-cycle coal- and gas-fired plants.
A lack of gas, however, has forced PLN to switch to fuel oil to run many of its combined-cycle power plants at a lower capacity.