Balai Karimun power plant will need 74m tons of coal per year

By Hiski Darmayana

The Balai Karimun coal-fired power plant, whose construction is nearly completed, in the Riau Islands will require 74 million tons of coal per year.

?Currently, the suppliers are the consortium of Karya Utama Banua and Daya Bambu Sejahtera under a status of Letter of Intent, and PLN Batubara,? Head of Coal Division at state utility PLN, Helmi Najamuddin told Petromindo.com Tuesday. PLN Batubara is the coal mining unit of the state utility.

Helmi said that construction of the 2x7 MW power plant has reached 96.77 percent of the targeted works. The contractors are Shandong Machinery I&E Group, and PT Rekadaya Elektrika.

?The power plant is targeted to start commercial operation in March 2014,? he said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak