Dieng power plant operates below capacity

Dieng geothermal power plant in Central Java can now produce only 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity, below its total capacity of 55 MW, a senior official of the Indonesian Geothermal Energy Association said Tuesday.

Within two years, the plant could operate at full capacity, association chairman Herman Darnel told reporters.

Herman did not say however why the plant had not operated at full capacity.

He said that the Dieng project was very decisive to the government?s plan of boosting power supply through Java-Bali transmission system within a couple of years.

PT Geo Dipa, 33 percent owned by state electricity firm PLN, operates the power plant. State oil and gas firm Pertamina owns the remaining 67 percent.

The Dieng project was initially developed by California Energy from the United States, which pulled out from Dieng after the government suspended the project in 1998 along with many other power projects. (godang)