PLN, Tenaga continue talks on Sumatra-Malaysia power grid

State owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and Malaysian electricity firm Tenaga National Berhad are continuing talks on the project to develop a power grid linking Peninsular Malaysia to Sumatra.

?We are now talking mechanism to supply power through the grid. Is a electricity supply swap possible or is Indonesia able to export electricity to Malaysia?? PLN?s Transmission and Distribution Director Herman Darnel Ibrahim said on Wednesday.

PLN and Tenaga started talking about the project several years ago but, a Malaysian media said in October last year the talks had been halted due to PLN?s financial constraints.

The grid will stretch from Teluk Gong on the west coast of Peninsular Malysia across Malacca Strait to Riau province?s city of Dumai via Rupat Island. Fifty two kilometers of the cable will lie undersea, according to Herman.

The project is expected to be completed in 2012 with estimated costs of about US$350 million, Herman said.

PLN and Tenaga have appointed Shaw Power Technologies, Inc (Shaw PTI) together with its partners Advanced Power Solutions Sdn Bhd, Stone and Webster Management Consultants Inc., Energy Cable Consultants Inc., and Electranix Corp. to carry out a detailed feasibility study (FS) on the project. (Godang)