PLN team up with private companies to build mini power plants

State owned Electricity Company PLN will team up with PT Buminata Aji Perkasa and the local authority to develop a number of mini hydro power plants in Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, Neraca reported on Tuesday.

PLN through its subsidiary PT Cita Contrac has agreed to form a joint venture with PT Buminata and the local authority to develop the mini hydropower plants which will have a generating capacity of 4.5 MW. Cita Contrac, and the local authority will respectively own 10 percent and 5 percent in the joint venture which will be named Buminata Cita Banngai Energi. The remaining 85 percent will be owned by PT Buminata.

Buminata?s director, Hengki Mahendro, said that the mini hydropower project would be started in February next year. "Hopefully, the commercial production could be started in January 2004," he said, adding that the hydropower project will include four mini hydropower plants which will be built in Kalumpung with a capacity of 1000 kW or 1 MW, in Hanga Hanga with a capacity of 2 x 1,700 kW.

The combined capacity of the two project which will be located in the Banggai regency will reach 4.5 MW. The cost for the construction of the mini power projects would reach US$4 million or equal to Rp 40 billion. (*)