PLN to relocate power plant to Madura

JAKARTA (JP): State electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will relocate a 100-Megawatt (MW) unit of the Grati gas-fired power plant in East Java to Madura to secure power supply on the island, Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said on Friday.

Kuntoro said in a statement that the measure would be taken to prevent power outages from recurring on the island in East Java.

He did not mention a schedule for the relocation of the power plant or the amount of time needed for the relocation.

According to PLN data, the Grati power plant has three units with a combined power generation capacity of 341 MW.

Madura, with a population of about 3 million people which consumes about 75 MW of power, has been without electricity for one week following a power outage caused by damage to the undersea power cable channeling power to the island from Gresik.

Kuntoro said the damage occurred last Friday when the Singapore-flagged Kota Indah ship commissioned by state shipping company PT Pelni dropped its anchor on the 150 kilovolt cable and dragged it across the ocean floor.

The ship ignored the signs on buoys indicating the presence of the cables and did not comply with the international map forbidding anchoring in the area.

Kuntoro said Surabaya's Tanjung Perak Port authority detained the ship "to allow PLN to start the process of suing the ship's owner".

Kuntoro said PLN could temporarily return power to the island in one to two months but it would take six to eight months to permanently restore the power supplies.

He said PLN has sent 22 diesel power generators to the island but only five, with the combined power generation capacity of 1.5 MW, had so far come on stream. The other 17 machines, with a capacity of 3.8 MW, were still being installed.

PLN has also leased a 10-MW barge-mounted power plant for the island.

All the machines could only supply power to vital facilities, including hospitals and drinking water companies.

Kuntoro said PLN was also considering moving the power cables to a safer place.

People in Madura now mostly rely on candles or kerosene lanterns at night.

According to Kuntoro, state oil and gas company Pertamina has helped the people of Madura by providing kerosene and diesel supplies to the island.

PLN's cooperatives have also distributed wax candles at a discounted price.

The power outage has caused billions of rupiah in financial losses to state-owned electricity company PLN, as well as untold losses due to the paralysis of most economic activities on island. (jsk)