PLN to buy from micro hydropower plants for rural areas

State electricity company PLN will buy power supply of up to 300 megawatt from micro hydropower plants to meet the growing needs of electricity in rural areas, Investor Daily reported on Tuesday.

Harry Jaya Pahlawan, PLN?s director for West Indonesia, said in Jakarta on Monday that a number of investors had made firm commitment to build micro hydropower plants in the country.

?The total capacity of the planned micro hydropower plants will reach about 300 MW,? he said, adding that all the micro hydropower plants would be operated by independent power producers (IPPs).

In addition, PLN will also build PLTA Pump Storage, a kind of hydropower plant, to specially provide power supply during peak hours. The pump storage power plant will have a capacity of 500 MW.

Harry said that the pump storage power plant would be built by an independent power producer (IPP). ?Investment for the power plant will reach US$1 billion or between $1.5 and $2.5 million per MW,? he added. (*)