Medium rank coal accounts for over half of supply for power plants

By Adianto P. Simamora

Petromindo

Medium rank coal with calorific value of 4,500-5,000 kcal/kg will account for more than half of this year?s projected coal supply for power plants operated by state-owned electricity firm PT PLN and independent power producers (IPPs), according to senior official at PLN.

Head of Coal Division at PLN, Harlen, told Petromindo.com on Monday that this year?s coal supply for power plants in the country is projected to reach about 86 million tons, of which some 51 million tons will be medium rank coal.

Harlen said that the existing big-scale coal-fired power plants such as Suralaya, Paiton and Tanjung Jati consumes the medium rank coal.

Consumption of low rank coal with calorific value of below 4,500 kcal/kg by power plants is expected to reach about 26 million tons, while high rank coal will be about 9 million tons.

?But the next coal-fired power plants will be designed to use more of low rank coal since most of our current available reserve is categorized low rank coal,? he said.

No	Coal type	Tonnage (million)	GCV	TS	TM	ASH
			(kcal/kg/GAR)	%	(%)	(%)
1	Low rank coal	26.301	<4,500	0.1-1.08	≥35	1.2-12.5
2	Medium rank coal	50,828	4,500-<5,500	0.1-1.08	25-35	1.2-12.5
3	High rank coal	8,973	≥5,000	0.1-1.08	≤25	1.2-12.5
TOTAL		86,103	?	?	?	?
NOTES: - Low rank coal: below 4,500 KCAL/KG: - Medium rank coal: 4,500-5,500 KCAL/KG: - High rank coal: Above 5,500 KCAL/KG

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak