Java-Bali power system back to alert status

The Java-Bali power system has returned to alert status as its electricity reserve on the grid dropped to only 190 megawatts (MW), according to state-owned electricity firm PT PLN.

PLN said in its website that on Monday, the grid is only able to provide around 14,340 MW while the peak demand is estimated at about 14,150 MW.

Around 1,983 MW of the total capacity of 18,592 MW on the Java-Bali grid have been placed on maintenance schedule including three units of major coal-fired power plants, Suralaya unit 3 (400 MW), Paiton unit 2 (370 MW), and Muarakarang unit 5 (165 MW).

The Paiton?s and Muarakarang?s units, however, are scheduled to resume their operation in a couple days.

PT Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of PLN, confirmed that it had regularly shutdown the third unit of the 3,400-megawatt Suralaya coal-fired power plant in Banten Province for simple inspection.

?The unit 3 of Suralaya power plant has been shutdown since Saturday (October 16, 2004) for simple inspection. The inspection usually will take about 40 days maximum,? Roedi Rahmanto, an operation manager at Suralaya power plant told Petromindo.Com on Monday.

Suralaya unit 3 has a power capacity of 400 MW and has been in operation since 1987.

Roedi said Indonesia Power also had scheduled to bring the unit 6 of the power plant into inspection after the completion of the unit 3.

The Java-Bali grid has experienced supply problems for several times. Last May, the grid's power plants supplied only around 12,840 MW of electricity while peak hour demand stood at around 13,250 MW. (robert)