Construction of new Suralaya power plant delayed

The construction of a new coal-fired power plant at the Suralaya power plant complex in Cilegon, Banten could not be carried as scheduled due to the delay in the approval of the plant?s environmental impact analyses document (Amdal) by the Banten provincial administration.

Bambang Isti Eddi, the commercial director of PT Indonesia Power, the operator of the Suralaya power plants, said in Jakarta on Monday that the construction of the new Suralaya power plant which would have a capacity of 600 MW should have been started, should the Banten provincial administration approved the Amdal document.

He said that the local government had asked the company to provide a new Amdal document because the first one was considered insignificant in dealing with the possible environmental impact of the plant?s operation.

?We hope the Amdal problem could be cleared within two months, if not we have to pay compensation for the delay to the contractor,? he said.

The construction of the new Suralaya power plant is one of coal-fired power plants to be built as part of the government?s fast-track program to provide additional power supply of 10,000 MW by the end of 2010.

The power plant will be built by a consortium of two Chinese companies China National Technical Import Export Corp (CNTIC) and Zhejiang Eeletric Power Design Institute, and PT Rekayasa Industry. (*)