PLN gets power supply from PLTA Poso II plant

State electricity company PLN will receive power supply from PLTA Poso II hydropower plant in South Sulawesi later this month to meet the surging electricity demand in Central Sulawesi, Kontan reported on Tuesday.

The construction of PLTA Poso II hydropower plant, which is built and operated by PT Mega Power Mandiri (MPM), is almost completed. The power plant, which has three generators with a capacity of 65 megawatt each, will begin operation later this month.

Mochammad Sofyan, the head of the new and renewable energy division at PLN, said that PLN would buy the electricity from PLTA Poso II at 6.73 US cent per kWh.

He said that the power plant will be operated in three stages, with the first unit to begin operation in September, the second unit in October and the third unit in November. ?So, the power supply from PLTA Poso II will be gradually increased to reach 195 MW in November,? he added.

In addition to PLTA Poso II, there are also two other hydropower plants ? PLTA Poso I and PLTA Poso III -- under construction at the Poso lake. PLTA Poso I with a capacity of 2 x 30 MW is expected to begin operation in 2014 and PLTA Poso III with a capacity of 4 x 80 MW will begin operation in 2017. (*)