PLN?s Indonesia Power cuts coal purchase for Suralaya plant

Indonesia Power, a subsidiary of state electricity company PLN, has cut the volumes of coal bought for the Suralaya steam power plant in Merak, West Java for up to two months as one of the plant?s generators is being serviced, Neraca daily reported on Monday.

It was a routine repair which started last month, Indonesia Power public relations manager Lili Tjarli Tahlan was quoted as saying.

Recently, Indonesia Power decided to reduce coal supply for the facility because its repository could not store more than one million tons of coal.

Lili said however Indonesia Power would resume coal purchase at normal volumes after the generator under reparation starts functioning again.

The Suralaya power plant operates six generators with generators I to IV having capacity to produce 400 megawatts (MW) each, while the power generators V and VI has 600 MW capacity each.

The plant needs at least 11 million tons of coal, of which between 6 million and 7 million tons are supplied by PT Batubara Bukit Asam. The remaining 5-6 million tons are procured from the spot market. (*)