Gas requirement for key power projects estimated at 1,250 bbtud

State-owned electricity company PT PLN has estimated that the gas requirement for power plants to be developed under the government?s 35,000 MW five-year plan to reach 1,250 bbtud.

Agung Wicaksono, a senior official at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that PLN has discussed the gas requirement with the ministry and upstream oil and gas authority SKK Migas.

He was quoted by Antara as saying that a Gas Committee, which also includes state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and SKK Migas, will be set up soon. The committee will be in charged for securing the gas requirement for the planned power plant projects.

The government of President Joko Widodo has set up a target to develop power plants with a combined capacity of 35,000 MW over the next five years, 10,000 MW of which to be developed by PLN, and the remainder by private investors.

Agung said that the 1,250 bbtud of gas supply will be sufficient for 25 years of the operation of the planned gas-fired power plants.

Antara said that power plants in Java-Bali with combined capacity of 5,000 MW will need gas supply of up to 542 bbtud, and outside Java-Bali with combined capacity of 7,081 MW will require about 600 bbtud of gas.

Power plants outside Java-Bali region will be scattered in North Sumatra (to require 98 bbtud of gas), South Sulawesi (78 bbtud), Aceh (72 bbtud), Riau (57 bbtud), Batam (54 bbtud), Lampung (38 bbtud), and Riau Islands (34 bbtud).

To meet gas requirement in the eastern part of Indonesia and in remote islands, PLN plans to use mini LNG transportation with gas sources among others the Bontang, Tangguh, Donggi Senoro, and Masela projects. (*)