Mrica hydro power plant faces serious shortage of water supply
Friday, September 9 2005 - 01:54 AM WIB
Rusli Ibnu Sugiarto, the manager of the power plant, said on Thursday that the water supply for the power plant had declined sharply in recent years due to the silting up of the Merica dam, the main source of the water supply for the power plant.
“The receiving capacity of the dam has declined to 55 percent or about 82 million cubic meters due to continued increased in the sediment,” he said, adding that the lack of the water supply had also sharply reduced the power supply from the Mrica power plant, which is also called the Panglima Besar Jenderal Sudirman power plant.
The Mrica power plant, located in Banjarnegara, Central Java, produces 180.93 MW of power at present. Rusli said that the lifespan of the dam which began its operation in 1999, was estimated to reach only about 33.5 years as compared to the initial estimate of 50 years.
The Mrica power plant is one of major power plants operated by Indonesia Power, the subsidiary of state owned electricity company PLN. (*)