PLN to complete Labuan coal dryer project in Q4

By Hisky Darmayana

State-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN Persero) aims to complete the construction of a coal dryer facility at the Labuan coal-fired power plant in Banten in the fourth quarter of this year.

?The project is still being evaluated. We?re still making some evaluation on the output, whether it is the same with the output at the pilot project level or not,? said Achmad Mudakhir, a senior manager at PLN.

Achmad said that PLN was hoping the project to be able to create added value from the processed coal by at least 20-25 percent. The coal dryer facility is expected to help increase the calorific value of the coal to be used in the power plant.

?But the increase in added value at the real scale could not yet be predicted,? he said.

Achmad said that the facility will have a capacity to process 200 tons of coal per hour during normal phase. In the initial state, PLN hopes the coal dryer to be able to process half of the normal capacity, or 100 tons per hour.

The coal for the project will be supplied by a number of companies including Arutmin and Kideco Jaya Agung.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak