PLN in talks with Pertagas to lower distribution cost of gas for PLTGU Belawan
Tuesday, May 23 2017 - 04:03 AM WIB
Petromindo|Khalsa
State-owned electricity firm PT PLN is in negotiation with gas distribution company PT Pertamina Gas as the former seeks to cut down the distribution cost of gas for its PLTGU Belawan gas and coal-fired power plant in North Sumatra.
PLN Director of Business for Sumatra Region Amir Rosidin was quoted by detik.com as saying Monday that the utility firm was seeking for up a 50 percent discount in the gas distribution cost.
?We?re currently in negotiation with Pertagas to lower the gas distribution cost. Pertagas has agreed, we?re now finalizing the figure,? he said.
Gas for the PLTGU Belawan comes from the Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua in the form of LNG at a price of about US$6 per mmbtu. The LNG is shipped to the Arun LNG terminal and regasification facility at a cost of $0.6 per mmbtu. The LNG then underwent regasification at a cost of $1.56 per mmbtu, and then transmitted to the power plant via the Arun-Belawan pipeline with a toll fee of $2.53 per mscfd. The total cost for shipment, regasification, and transmission is around $4.69 per mmbtu, thus making the gas price for the power plant to reach more than $10 per mmbtu.
Amir hopes that the regasification cost and toll fee, totaling about $4 per mmbtu, could be cut down by about half to around $2 per mmbtu. He said that Pertagas in principle has agreed to lower the cost as long as PLN increases the gas volume.
He said that PLN can fulfill the required higher gas volume as there will be higher demand for gas in North Sumatra with the operation of two new power plants in the province including the 75 MW Pasir Paya mobile power plant, and a 240 MW marine vessel power plant brought in from Turkey.
He added that in the future, PLN gas required in North Sumatra will further increase with the completion of the 184 MW PLTG Arun gas-fired power plant, and the 250 MW PLTG Arun expansion project. (*)