COD of Sarulla geothermal power plant scheduled for November 2016

By Cepi Setiadi

PT Medco Power Indonesia (MPI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk, said the Unit 1 of PLTP Sarulla geothermal power plant in North Sumatra is scheduled to be on stream in November 2016.

President Director MPI Fazil E. Alfitri told Petromindo.com on Wednesday that the power plant has a total capacity of 330 MW, while Unit 1 has a capacity of 110 MW.

?The steam has come out and it has been proven, there should be no more delay or the possibility for delay is really small,? he said.

Fazil noted however the company is worried about the readiness of public utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) (PLN) in terms of the availability of transmission line.

?We expect the transmission line to be ready by June 2016 as (by that time) we shall need power to start up for commissioning,? he said adding the company is now in pre- commissioning stage.

According to Fazil, the Unit 2 and Unit 3 are expected to be on stream in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The power plant is equipped with Toshiba turbines. The US$1.7 billion project is financed by JBIC, ADB and several other overseas banks.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon