PLN to call for bids to construct Kariangau power plant

State owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will launch in February the tender for the construction of the Kariangau coal-fired power plant at the Kariangau industrial estate in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The memorandum of the understanding on the construction of the 2x100 MW power plant was signed in the provincial capital of Samarinda by PLN?s President Director Dahlan Iskan and Governor Awang Faroek in a ceremony attended by Minister of Industry MS Hidayat and Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Gita Wirjawan.

Speaking to journalists after the signing ceremony, Dahlan said that the plant which would be built at a cost of about Rp 2.2 trillion (1US$ = Rp 9,300) would be part of Phase One 10,000 MW fast track power plant development program.

The project will be expedited and is expected to be completed in 2012, he said. ?Once the power plant starts operation in 2012, East Kalimantan?s main areas of Balikpapan, Samarinda and Tangarong will no longer have a problem with a power supply,? he said.

Dahlan said he would also consider the governor?s proposal to build an integrated power system in the northern part of the province.

According to him, Bakrie Power will build a coal fired power plant with a capacity of 2 x 100 MW in Sangatta, East Kutai regency. ?We still study it, but I think there will not problem with Bakrie?s project,? he added.(*)