Indonesia expected to face power supply crisis by 2003

State-owned electricity company PLN says Indonesia needs additional supplies of between 1,000MW and 1,500MW of power a year to ward off a power supply crisis in 2003.

Indonesia is expected to have an installed capacity of 19,697MW in 2003 after the completion of many new generating facilities.

With a peak load estimated at 17,164MW the reserve margin would be only 14.7 per cent in 2003, far below the normal level of at least 30 per cent, PLN President Kuntoro Mangkusubroto told a seminar here yesterday.

Kuntoro said the shortage would be especially serious in Java and Bali where power consumption grew by 11 per cent a year.

He said the government would have to attract the private sector to build more power facilities. A 1,200MW unit would cost about $1.4 billion to build. (*)