Japan hands over loans for RI power projects
Tuesday, July 22 2003 - 11:56 PM WIB
The two loans will finance the Muara Karang and Muara Tawar power projects of state-owned electricity company PT PLN, the bank said in a statement.
The Muara Karang project aims at increasing the power capacity of the Muara Karang power complex in North Jakarta from 300 megawatts (MW) to 720 MW by converting the diesel oil-fired power facility to a gas-combined-cycle-thermal power generation facility.
The Muara Tawar project aims to build a new gas-fired-combined-cycle power plant with a capacity of 225 MW at an existing power complex in Bekasi.
The bank allocated ?55,750 million to the Muara Karang project and ?18,182 million to the Muara Tawar project.
Both loans will be used for the construction of power generation facilities and consulting services, including detailed design, procurement assistance and monitoring and supervision of the project's implementation.
Both loans carry an interest rate of 1.8 percent per annum and should be repaid in 30 years, with a grace period of 10 years.
The bank noted that demand for power has grown at an annual rate of 9 percent since 2000, fueled by the economic recovery that followed the crisis. Demand is forecast to grow by about 7 percent annually in the coming years.
This prospect has raised the possibility of a deteriorating demand-supply balance in Jakarta, where demand for power is the highest in the country.
This situation, combined with falling capacities in existing power plants, could pose a major problem as a tight supply situation is expected to emerge in 2004 and beyond, the bank said.(*)