Prices of power plants in Indonesia much higher: Team
Prices of power plants in Indonesia much higher: Team
JAKARTA (JP): A special fact-finding team of the Ministry of
Mines and Energy concluded after a one-week comparative study of
power plants in Malaysia and Thailand that the prices offered by
the foreign contractors for three steam and gas power projects in
Java turned out to be much higher.
Informed sources at the State Electricity Company (PLN) which
also joined the team disclosed here yesterday that the prices of
combined-cycle (steam and gas) power plants in Thailand ranged
from US$489 to $502 per kW in Malaysia from $597 to $599,
compared to a range of $610 to $701 per kW the foreign
contractors offered for the power projects in Java.
The sources said the prices of open-cycle (gas) power plants
in Thailand ranged from $424 to $510 per kW in Malaysia from $372
to $493, compared to $529 to $534 for the Java projects.
"We have revised all the components of the job contracts to
make the projects in Malaysia and Thailand comparable to the
three projects in Java," they pointed out.
"By reviewing all the cost components, we are able to compare
an apple to an apple," the sources added.
The team, headed by Haposan Silalahi, the inspector general of
the Ministry and Mines and Energy, was sent on May 14 to make the
comparative study following a controversy over the appointment of
three foreign contractor consortiums to build the three power
projects on a repeat-order basis.
Order
The government early in March awarded the three gas and steam
power plant projects on a repeat-order basis to foreign
contractors after they agreed to lower their bidding prices from
a total of $2.14 billion to $1.76 billion. The total prices were
again reduced to $1.65 billion in April.
However, the repeat orders set off a controversy as many
analysts saw the prices offered by the foreign contractors as
much higher than those in Indonesia's neighbouring countries.
The 982-megawatt Muara Tawar combined-cycle power project in
West Java was awarded to a consortium of German ABB and Japanese
Marubeni, the 505-megawatt Tambak Lorok open-cycle project in
Central Java to a group of Japanese Sumitomo and American General
Electric and the 855-megawatt Grati combined-cycle power project
in East Java to a consortium of Japanese Mitsubishi and German
Siemens.
Sources who followed the evaluation of the projects contend
that the lowered bidding prices of the contractors were much
higher than those offered by GEC Alsthom.
They said the lowered prices which ranged from $610 to $701
per kW for combined-cycle generation, and $529 to $534 for open
cycle generation were still much higher than the $600 and $500
per kW, respectively, offered by GEC-Alsthom, an Anglo-French
company.
PLN had repeatedly argued that the three projects should be
awarded on a repeat-order basis to speed up their implementation
in order to cope with the present severe power shortages.
The sources declined to give further details on the team's
recommendations to the government, adding that the team's report
had yet to be studied by the relevant agencies.
The special team which visited Thailand and Malaysia last
month consisted of representatives of PLN, the National
Development Planning Agency and the Agency for the Research and
Application of Technology. (vin)