Suralaya power plant's unit shut down for 2 days

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