PLN targets 38 power plants to start operation this year

Despite slow progress so far, state-owned electricity firm PT PLN said that 38 power plant projects with combined capacity of 2,414.50 W are targeted to start operation this year.

The company said in a statement Sunday that this is part of the government?s target to develop a total of 35,000 MW power plants over a five-year period until 2019. PLN has been assigned to develop about 10,000 MW, while the remaining bulk to be developed by independent power producers (IPPs).

According to the PLN statement, 106 power plants with combined capacity of 5,567.9 MW will start operation in 2017, 86 plants with combined capacity of 8,446.9 MW in 2018, and 80 plants with combined capacity of 19,117.4 MW in 2019.

PLN said that one power plant with capacity of 1 MW started operation last year.

Progress so far, however, has been relatively slow. As of the first quarter of this year, as many as 12,226.8 MW, or 34.4 percent of the total 35,000 MW target, are still at the planning stage. Another 8,377.7 MW, or 23.6 percent are at the procurement stage, PLN Senior Manager for Public Relations Agung Murdifi said, adding it has also signed power purchase agreements (PPA) for several projects with combined capacity of 10,941 MW.

PLN said only 397 MW has been in operation and entered the power system such as the 100 MW Gorontalo gas-fired power plant in Gorontalo.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak