Kideco, Indonesia Power in talks to increase coal supply to Suralaya

East Kalimantan-based coal producer PT Kideco Jaya Agung and PT Indonesia Power, a unit of state electricity firm PT PLN, are in talks over the possibility to increase coal supply to the latter's Suralaya power plant complex in Banten, which is now facing a serious coal supply shortage, a Kideco executive said.

The Suralaya power plant complex is the biggest in Java with a combined power generation capacity of 3,400 megawatt (MW).

?Kideco is in talks with Indonesia Power to increase coal supply from 2 million tons under the existing contract to around 2.5 million tons this year. Kideco is able to immediately increase its supply from around 180,000 tons per month to 230,000 immediately to help meet Suralaya's coal requirement,? said Kideco Managing Director Kim Sung Kook.

Last year, Kideco and Indonesia Power signed a contract to supply 2.5 million tons to Suralaya annually, making Kideco the second largest supplier to Suralaya after state coal mining firm PT. Tambang Batubara Bukit asam (PTBA), which supplies around 6 million tons annually.

Suralaya is now in serious coal-supply problem as PTBA was forced to cut supply due to transportation problem. On Thursday, Indonesia Power said coal stock in Suralaya was only enough for six days of operations. (alex)