NEWS ANALYSIS: Darkness ends in N. Sulawesi, Gorontalo

By Johannes Simbolon

People in North Sulawesi and Gorontalo provinces on Sulawesi Island should feel happy now that state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has announced the era of power shortage in both provinces has been over.

This is thanks to the operation of two new power plants there, namely MVPP Zeynep Sultan marine vessel power plant and PLTG Gorontalo gas turbine power plant.

PLTG Gorontalo started partial commercial operation on Jan. 16, followed by MVPP Zeynep Sultan on Jan. 28. The former is scheduled come into full operation this month (February). Both power plants have added significant power supplies to the Sulutgo (North Sulawesi-Gorontalo) grid which had experienced power deficit for many years.

North Sulawesi is among the provinces with the fastest economic growth. Last year, the province booked a 6.8 percent economic growth, surpassing the national growth figures. The province? seaport city, Bitung, has been declared by the government a special economic zone, given its strategic location on the international sea lane linking Australia and East Asia. Development is now in progress to turn it into a hub for exports of fish and agribusiness products. North Sulawesi is also close to the Philippines, one of the fastest growing economies in Asia at present.

One of the long-standing problems in the province was power. ?Everybody knows the problem in North Sulawesi is power supply. In Manado (North Sulawesi?s provincial capital), power blackout happens every day, every week,? Minister of Trade Thomas T. Lembong was quoted by the media as saying last year, when he was asked about the main challenge faced in the development of Bitung as special economic zone.

Baringin Nababan, PLN?s General Manager for North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo provinces, admitted that the lack of power supplies was a persistent problem in the region for many years. With the operation of MVPP Zeynep Sultan and PLTG Gorontalo, the problem will be gradually resolved.

?Gradually, power supplies in North Sulawesi and Gorontalo will improve and continue to improve, while in the past, there was a power deficit. At our request, big industrial and business customers had to use their own captive power during peak load. Now, they can get our service back,? Baringin said during the ceremony to mark the operation of MVPP Zeynep Sultan.

The operation of MVPP Zeynep Sultan was marked with the signing of Commercial Operation Date (COD) by Baringin representing PLN and Noorchan and Osman representing Karpowership Indonesia, a subsidiary of a Turkish company, the owner of operator of the floating power plant.

The power plant stationed in the waters of Amurang, Minahasa Selatan regency, North Sulawesi, has a capacity of 120 MW and is required to supply a minimum volume of 96 MW, or 80 percent of the capacity, to the 150 kV Sulutgo power grid.

PLN is leasing the MVPP from a Turkish company because it is easy to be relocated to any part of the country to solve power shortage. I takes only three or four weeks to move it to new location. Furthermore, it is cheaper to operate because it may run on dual fuel, namely heavy diesel oil or gas. PLN will be able to save costs by Rp 350 billion per year using the power plant, according to PLN. The MVPP has six power units each with the capacity of 20 MW.

Meanwhile, PLTG Gorontalo, which is owned by PLN and developed by state owned construction firm PT Pembangunan Perumahan has four power generating units, each with the capacity of 25 MW. Only two units have be connected with the Sulutgo power grid. The power plant is located in Marisa, Pohuwato regency, Gorontalo.

?The development of the project was relatively quick, taking only four months. It took only four months for us to install four turbines each with the capacity of 25 MW. We have also carried out tests panel and transformer at PTLG Gorontalo?s substation and all were running well,? Machnizon Masri, PLN?s Director for Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara regions said during the ceremony to mark the operation of two units on Jan. 16.

Along with the power plant, PLN also completed the construction of PLTG Gorontalo substation and six high-voltage towers with a capacity of 150 kV, stretching 1.4 circuit km from PLTG Gorontalo to Marisa substation.

PLTG Gorontalo, which is part of the 35,000 MW power plant projects targeted by the government to be completed until 2019, utilizes the TM 2500+ turbine manufactured by General Electric (GE) plant in Hungary.

Machnizon said a total of 700 workers were involved in the development of the project which is located in in Maleo village, Paguat district, Pohuwanto regency.

Until the operation of the floating power plant, the Sulutgo grid experiences a 50 MW deficit with peak load reaching 325 MW. Thanks to MVPP Zeynep Sultan and once the 100-MW PLTG Gorontalo have started operation at full capacity in February of this year, the power grid will have a reserve capacity of 170 MW.