PLN asked to stop building new hydropower plants in Java

The government has asked the state owned electricity company PLN to reconsider its plans to build more hydropower plants in Java because water level in major rivers is getting worse from time to time particularly during the dry season, Kompas reported on Friday.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that PLN would be better to build combined cycle (gas) power plants rather than hydropower plants to ensure that there would be no more problem related to power supply during the dry season.

"There will be enough gas supply in Java in the coming years. So, for Java, the gas power plants will be more suitable," he said during a visit at the Cirata dam in Purwakarta, West Java. State Minister of Environment Nabiel Makarim and State Minister of Research and Technology Hatta Radjasa also joined the inspection of the dam which is used to operate the 1000 MW Cirata hydropower plant.

Nabiel Makarim said that the condition of the water supply in most parts of Java has worsened from year to year due to shrinking forest area particularly in water catchment area.

"We need at least 20 years to bring back the river and water reservoirs to their normal condition," he said. "Java is so dried right now, if in the past 20 years it was like a cute girl, it now had became a grandma," he added.

He said that to bring back the water supply to its normal condition, a number of efforts should be taken such as by massive reforestation program in all the water catchments areas. "Switching land area into a rice field should be stopped if we want to sustain the water resources," he said. (*)