Ministers meets governors, regents, mayors on 35,000 MW

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said together with Minister of Home Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo held a coordination meeting on Thursday in Surabaya with governors, regents and mayors from across the country to discuss the government?s 35,000 MW power project development program.

It was the first such meeting to be held since President Joko Widodo launched the 35,000 MW program several months ago, the ministry of energy and mineral resources said in a statement.

The meeting aims to find solutions to problems faced in the implementation of the program.

During the meeting, the governors, regents and mayors were informed that the government plans to increase the country?s power installed capacity to 86,000 MW in 2019 in order to increase the national electrification ratio to 96.6 percent with a per-capita consumption of 1,200 kWh. In order to reach the goal, massive power projects will be developed, including projects to develop 42,940 MW (291 power plant projects), 46,597 km of transmission lines (732 transmission projects), and 108,789 power mother stations (1,375 mother stations). All the projects need huge investments, estimated at Rp 1,227 trillion.

The president will issue a presidential regulation aimed to remove all potential obstacles to the implementation of the program, the ministers told the governors, mayors and regents.

The ministers, governors, mayors and regents agreed to set deadline for the solutions to the problems related to land appropriation, licensing and zoning, the ministry said, without providing more details.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon