PLN signs new coal purchase contract

State owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will sign in July this year new sales and purchase agreement with a consortium of coal producers PT Batara Batari Sinergy Nusantara and PT Energi Batu Bara Lestari (EBL) to further increase coal supply for the company?s four new power plants, which would need at least 1.4 million tons a year, Investor Daily reported on Tuesday.

PLN?s coal division head Helmi Najamuddin said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the additional coal supply would be used to feed four new coal-fired power plants including PLTU Te1uk Sirih in Padang, West Sumatra, with capacity of 2x112 megawatt (MW), PLTU Nagan Raya in Aceh with capacity of 2x110 MW, PLTU Pangkalan Susu in North Sumatera with capacity of 2x220 MW and PLTU Bangka Belitung with capacity of 16.5 MW.

?The consortium was appointed in 2010 but the sales and purchase agreement will be signed three months before the commercial operation,? Helmi said, adding that the contract will last for 29 years, based on the prices set by the government.

The four power plants will require at least 1.4 million tons of coal a year. PLTU Nagan Raya and PLTU Teluk Sirih will each need 280,000 tons and 460,000 tons a year, while PLTU Pangkalan and PLTU Bangka Belitung will need 480,000 tons and 180,000 tons a year, respectively.

?This year, they will begin to supply PLTU Teluk Sirih and PLTU Nagan Raya, and PLTU Pangkalan Susu and PLTU Bangka Belitung next year,? he added.

PLN?s coal consumption continues to increase from year to year due to the increase in the number of its power plants. Last year, the company?s coal demand is projected to increase to 76 million tons next year and to about 110 million tons in 2018 from about 57.2 million tons last year. (*)