Suralaya power plant's unit shut down for 2 days

A 600-megawatt (MW) PLN power generating unit in Suralaya, West Java, will be shut down on Thursday and Friday to enable the company to repair a leak in its boiler.

Due to the temporary unavailability of power from Suralaya power plant's unit VII, there will be a 250-MW shortage of power during the 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. peak hours in the Java-Bali grid on Friday, general manager of the grid's center for power distribution Muljo Adji said on Thursday.

"Without consumers' participation (in reducing power consumption), several areas may experience blackouts," he said. Power demand in peak hours is expected to reach 14,500 MW on Friday, while the usable capacity will be around 14,250 MW.

The repairs will be completed on Friday evening. "Hopefully we'll be able to start operating the unit on Saturday and the plant will be running normally by Sunday," said Muljo.

The Suralaya power plant has a total capacity of 3,400 MW, comprising four units of 400 MW each and three of 600 MW each.

PLN continuously struggles to meet the electricity demand in the country, especially since the cash-strapped government has found it difficult to build more power plants after the 1997-1998 monetary crisis.

Three power plants in Java with a combined capacity of nearly 2,000 MW are expected to start operating between the end of this year and the first quarter of 2006 to secure supply. -- JP