Minister: Progress of 35,000 MW has reached 24.9%

By Febry Silaban

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said stated that the progress of the 35,000 Mw power projects have reached 24.9 percent as of May 25, 2016.

?The actual progress of 35,000 MW (projects) in 85 power plant locations has reached 24.9 percent as of May 25,? Sudirman said during a hearing with the House of Representatives.

The ministry measures the progress on the assumption of ideal conditions of power plant development. Tender preparation takes three months. Once the tender preparation has been completed, the progress is considered to have reached 10 percent. The auction normally takes six months. Following the completion of tender, Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) is signed. At this point, the progress is considered to have reached 25 percent, Sudirman explained.

The next step is land clearing and license procurement process which take 6-12 months, and then financing close. Once all these have been complete, the progress is considered to reach 40 percent. The last phase is construction and commissioning of power plant, which take 6-54 months, depending on the type of the power plant. A coal fired power plant project, known locally as PLTU, takes 36-54 months from construction to commissioning, while the length of time for a gas turbine power plant (PLTG) to undergo a similar process is 12-24 months.

The ministry?s data say power projects have signed PPA have a combined capacity of 18,000 MW or 49 percent of the total capacity planned to be developed under the 35,000 MW program. The remaining 19,000 power plants have yet to sign PPA.

With regards transmission network, of the total 46,597 circuit kilometers planned to be built, 2,792 circuit km have been built and come ontsream. The rest are still either under construction (16,712 circuit km) or on pre-construction stage (27,093 circuit km).

Editing by Johannes Simbolon