Five new power projects ready for construction

As many as five power projects with combined capacity of 1,354 megawatt (MW) to be built under the second 10,000 MW fast track program have entered construction stage, Kontan reported on Thursday.

According to the Directorate General of Electricity at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, three of the five projects are coal-fired power plants: PLTU Paritbaru with a capacity of 2 x 50 MW in West Kalimantan, PLTU Ketapang with a capacity of 2 x 10 MW in West Kalimantan and PLTU Bau Bau with a capacity of 2 x 10 MW in Southeast Sulawesi.

The other two are hydropower plants: PLTA Upper Cisokan with a capacity of 4 x 260 MW in West Java and PLTA Asahan with a capacity of 2 x 87 MW in North Sumatra.

Director General of Electricity Jarman said 26 of the power plants under the second-10,000 MW fast track program would be built by state owned electricity companies and the other 72 power plants by independent power producers (IPPs).

He said that the PLTA Upper Cisokan which will use a pumped storage technology would be partly financed by loan from the World Bank. The total cost of this project is estimated to reach US$800 million, of which about $640 million to be financed by loans and the remainders from the state budget.

Jarman said that the PLTA Upper Cisokan hydropower plant was scheduled for commercial operation in 2016.(*)