Govt prepares the third stage of the 10,000 MW power acceleration program

As the second stage 10,000 MW power acceleration program is being developed, the government and state utility company PT PLN move one step ahead by preparing the third stage of the 10,000 MW power acceleration program, which will be developed in stages from 2011 to 2020, Investor Daily reported on Monday.

?The drafting of the 2011-2020 power supply master plan will begin next month and should be finished by end of this year,? said PLN Director for Planning and Technology, Nasri Sebayang.

The second stage of the 10,000 MW power plant acceleration program is mainly dominated by geothermal power plants, compared to coal-fired power plants in first-stage.

The third stage will focus on hydropower, Nasri was quoted by Investor Daily as saying.

Nasri said his office is selecting hydropower plant projects that will be included in the 10,000 MW power plant program (2011-2020).

He said PLN plans to develop hydropower plant with total capacity of 5,600 MW up until 2020. Some of these projects are already included in the second stage of the 10,000 MW acceleration program, such as Asahan and Cisokan hydropower plants, located in Sumatera and West Java respectively.

Nasri said Indonesia has hydro-power potentials of 76,000 MW, with 36,000 MW appears to be viable for development.(*)