Power shortage outside Java to end soon: PLN

Power shortage outside Java to end soon: PLN

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The current power shortages plaguing areas outside Java and
Bali should end in the next couple of months with the completion
of repair work at power-generating units and additional supply
from other power producers, a senior official of the state-owned
electricity firm PLN said on Monday.

"We expect Sumatra will no longer experience power blackouts
starting September, while Maluku will be back to normal in June.

"This conditions will be sustained until 2003," PLN Director
for Operations Bambang Hermiyanto told reporters.

There are now about 28 critical areas outside Java and Bali,
meaning areas that have about the same power peak loads and
power-generating capacities.

These areas are susceptible to power shortages either due to
power plant maintenance or force majeure.

Sumatra and Maluku have suffered power blackouts over the past
few months due for these reasons.

To solve the blackout problem in South Sumatra and Lampung,
Bambang said PLN had repaired Lampung's Besai hydro power plant.

"The power plant will be recommissioned in May or July to
generate about 90 Megawatts (MW) of power," he said.

PLN would also, among other actions, rent two 20 MW gas-fired
power plants to be operated in Tarahan, Lampung, and purchase
power worth 7 MW from the state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina.

In West Sumatra and Riau, PLN would rent two 20 MW gas-fired
power plants to be operated in Teluk Lembu, Riau.

"We will spend around 70 percent of our capital expenditure on
stopping the shortages in Sumatra," he said.

In Maluku, he said PLN would build diesel power plants and
rent several private-owned power generators.

"The same efforts will be carried out in other provinces,"
Bambang added.

Besides these efforts, he said, the government had also
secured loans from several foreign institutions to build diesel
power plants and other kinds of power plants to prevent further
shortages in the future.

One of the institutions providing loans was the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), he said.

Apart from the above critical areas, Java and Bali island were
also projected to suffer electricity shortages in 2004 if no new
power plants came onstream.

However, PLN said the shortages in Java and Bali could be
pushed back to 2006 should the 1,320 MW Tanjung Jati B coal-fired
power plant in Central Java started generating power around
2004/2005.

Java and Bali's power demand accounted for about 90 percent of
the country's total power demand, which stood at around 25,000
MW, according to PLN.

Last year, director general of electricity at the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources Luluk Sumiarso warned that the power
supplies on the Java-Bali grid had been in a critical state.

Power plants on both islands now have a total power generation
capacity of 15,297 MW, while both islands need a total of 16,828
MW capacity to operate in a safe margin. The grid needs a reserve
capacity of at least 30 percent in order to operate safely. This
is to anticipat a sudden surge in demand, potential technical
failure in one power plant or maintenance works.

Luluk said power demand on both islands could exceed supply by
2003, when the peak load is expected to hit 15,441 MW compared
with the installed capacity of 15,285 MW.