Coal producers question suspension of coal supply for Suralaya plant
Tuesday, July 23 2002 - 04:07 AM WIB
They said Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of state power firm PLN, was continuing to buy coal from smaller producers for the Suralaya steam power plant in Merak, West Java. Meanwhile, Indonesia Power had since June stopped buying coal from them, they said.
Earlier reports said the Suralaya plant?s repository could not store more than one million tons of coal. Indonesia Power public relations manager Lili Tjarli Tahlan was quoted as saying that one of the plant?s generators was being overhauled so that the plant had required less coal. As a consequence, Indonesia Power decided to temporarily stop buying coal since June until it completed overhauling the generator within two months.
An official of a coal company complained that the contracts of some coal producers continuing to supply coal to Suralaya actually had expired. ?This is unfair. Indonesia Power should have just reduced purchase volumes proportionally,? he said.
Adaro administration manager Priyadi said his company?s coal supply for the Suralaya power facility had been reduced drastically following Indonesia Power?s decision. Priyadi said however they had not yet planned any measure in response to the situation. Adaro is Indonesia?s top coal producer operating a coalmine in South Kalimantan.
The Suralaya power plant has generating capacity stands at 3,400 megawatts. It needs at least 11 million tons of coal per year, of which between 6 million and 7 million tons are supplied by state-owned South Sumatra-based PT Batubara Bukit Asam.
In another development, Lili on Monday denied allegations that the company had halted purchasing coal for the Suralaya plant.
?The allegations are groundless. We have continued to receive coal from domestic suppliers,? Lili told Suara Karya daily. There were currently 1.3 million tons of coal on the Suralaya plant?s storehouse, he added. (*)