Clean Power?s biomass plant to start operation in March

By Nova Farida

Power producer PT Clean Power Indonesia said that its 700 kW biomass power plant project on Siberut Island, Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra Province, is targeted to start operation in March of next year.

President Director of Clean Power Indonesia, Jaya Wahono, said that the power plant will initially supply electricity to three local villages, namely Madobak, Matotonan, and Saliguma.

?Construction progress has now reached around 70 percent. In March, it will enter trial phase, and two months later will operate fully,? he told Petromindo.com on Tuesday.

Wahono explained that the power plant utilizes bamboo as source of fuel. Every 1 kWh of electricity requires the supply of 1.5 kg of bamboo. Electricity output from the power plant will be sold to state-owned electricity firm PT PLN, which will then distribute it to customers with a subsidized tariff.

He said that his company has developed a bamboo forest taking advantage of non-productive land areas in three villages.

Clean Power has obtained grant facility worth US$300 million from Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Indonesia, an organization set up by the US government in cooperation with the Indonesian National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), for the development of the power plant and the required transmission line.

?Our focus is currently to supply electricity in Mentawai Islands. The target if that over the next five years, the entire villages can be electrified. The electricity requirement is around 10 MW,? Wahono said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak