Counter trade deal hampers Tanjung Jati B power project
Wednesday, February 5 2003 - 03:16 AM WIB
President director of the state owned electricity company PLN, Eddie Widiono said on Monday that the problem would result in the delay in the commercial operation of the power plant to 2006 from the initial schedule of 2004.
According to Eddie, the counter trade deal imposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the importation of the equipment for the power plant caused a problem to Sumitomo because the company faced difficulties to find out what kinds of commodities that would be imported from Indonesia as part of the deal.
Eddie said that the Japanese company also faced difficulties to name a company which would act as an intermediary in the barter deal process. "As the result, the project has been delayed, and Sumitomo reschedule the commercial operation of the power plant to 2006 instead of 2004 as earlier planned," he added.
He said that the delay in the US$1.4 billion power project would result in the shortage of the power supply for Java and Bali up to 600 MW in 2004 and 900 MW in 2005. "If the project is delayed again after 2006, many areas will not receive electricity supply," Eddie added.
The Tanjung Jati B power plant is being built by Sumitomo under a leasing contract. Under such a deal, PLN will buy the electricity from the power plant at US$0.04. (*)