Partial power blackout hits North Sumatra

A partial power black out has hit several parts of North Sumatra since last week due to a leakage in the heat recovery system of state owned electricity company PLN's combined cycle power plant in Sicanang, Belawan, Kompas reported Tuesday.

Albert Pangaribuan, the general manager of the Sicanang power plant said in Medan Monday that the leakage which had taken place since early last week was now being repaired.

"We hope the boiler system could run normally beginning today (Monday)," he told reporters. He said that a larger part of the pipes in the heat recovery system, which had been used for almost 10 years, had suffered a serious corrosion.

"Almost a half of the pipes had been replaced, but the replacement of the remainders would take time because the replacement should be carried out in stages in order to prevent the power plant from being totally shut down," he added

The Sicanang power plant which began operation in 1984 has a capacity of producing 525 megawatt of power or about 85 percent of the power needs in North Sumatra. (*)