Muara Tawar power plant would be expanded

State owned electricity company PLN will increase the capacity of the Muara Tawar combined-cycle power plant in Bekasi, West Java by another 225 megawatt (MW) to 1,065 MW from 840 MW at present, Antara news agency reported Tuesday.

"A fifth power generating unit with a capacity of 225 MW will be built within the Muara Tawar complex. The expansion projects will be financed by loan from Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC)," PLN's president Eddie Widiono said last week following the presentation of an ISO 14001 award to the power plant.

Eddie said that the Muara Tawar power plant which was built in 1997 has four generating units, with combined capacity of 840 MW. PLN has recently completed the construction of a 500 kv power grid to connect the power plant to the main Java and Bali power transmission network.

"With the completion of the power grid construction, the Muara Tawar power plant no longer needed to share the Saguling transmission network in supplying its electricity to the Java and Bali power transmission network," he said. (*)