GE developing wood-based power plant in Sumba
Wednesday, January 23 2013 - 01:47 AM WIB
General Electric Indonesia President Director Handry Santriago said on Tuesday that the power plant development was conducted in cooperation with the state utility PT PLN. ?It?s part of our plan to help PLN develop power plants based on renewable energy. It?s cheaper to operate if compared to diesel fuel power plants,? he said.
The power plant, which will need a total investment of US$5 million, is expected to start commercial operation in 2014.
Handry was quoted by Kontan as saying on Tuesday that after the completion of the power plant construction, his company has planned to develop 20 units of similar power plants in other locations of Indonesia.
He said that PLN had planned to develop renewable energy based power plants in many locations, particularly in eastern Indonesia, as part of its plan to replace all diesel fuel based power plants that are expensive to operate.
According to him, General Electric has developed gas engines, which are designed to be fed with many kinds of woods that are abundantly available in remote areas of Indonesia.
?This technology can be appropriately used to develop power plants in remote areas that cannot be accessed with the existing grid systems. With that, we can help increase the electrification rate in Indonesia that is still at an average of 70 percent,? he said.(*)