ADB to finance PLN?s three power interconnection projects

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to finance the construction of three power grids owned by state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), that, respectively, link Java to Bali, Kalimantan to Malaysia and Sumatra to Malaysia.

PLN?s Director of Planning and Technology Bambang Praptono said in Jakarta on Friday that the financing for the three power interconnection projects were being negotiated with ADB.

The three power interconnection projects would include the construction of a power grid with a capacity of 500 kilovolt (kV) linking Java to Bali, a power grid with a capacity of 500 kV connecting Sumatra with Malaysia's Malaka and a power grid with a capacity of 275 kV linking West Kalimantan to Malaysia's Sarawak.

Bambang said that the construction of the three interconnection projects would cost about $980 million to build, with about $340 million of the total will be earmarked for the Java-Bali interconnection, $150 million for West Kalimantan-Sarawak interconnection and the remaining $490 million for the Sumatra-Malaka interconnection.

He said that the construction of the power grids linking Sumatra to Malaka, and West Kalimantan to Sarawak would be part of the regional power connection system to be built within members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

?The projects will be started as soon as ADB gives its approval to finance them so that the three power interconnection can be operated in 2015,? he said, adding that a feasibility study on the construction of the Java and Bali power grids would be begun in January next year.

The study would decide whether the Java and Bali power grid would be built through a tower connection or through undersea cable, Bambang said. (bernard)