PLN to launch first 350 MW tranche of GIGA ONE Sumatra Hydro project
Wednesday, August 5 2026 - 03:56 PM WIB
By Pandu Setiabudi
State utility PT PLN will launch a tender next week for the first 350 MW tranche of its GIGA ONE Sumatra Hydro Baseload project, marking the initial phase of the planned 1,800 MW Sumatra Baseload development under the company's 7 GW GIGA ONE Hydro program, PLN Director of Project Management and New & Renewable Energy Suroso Isnandar said on Wednesday.
"God willing, next week we will launch the first 350 MW tranche of the Sumatra Baseload project under GIGA ONE Hydro," Suroso said.
He explained that PLN decided not to launch the full 1,800 MW Sumatra Baseload package at once because the Sumatra–Java interconnection has not yet been completed. Without the interconnection, the additional electricity generated would not be optimally absorbed by the power system.
"We are not launching the full 1,800 MW because we are waiting for the Sumatra–Java interconnection. If we tender the entire capacity now, the electricity cannot be fully transmitted," he said.
PLN has already initiated the GIGA ONE Hydro program by launching the tender process for the 1,000 MW Sumatra Peaker package. According to Suroso, subsequent tenders will include the 1,400 MW Sulawesi Baseload Phase 1, 1,800 MW Sulawesi Baseload Phase 2, 150 MW Kalimantan Peaker, and 825 MW Kalimantan Baseload projects. However, he did not specify the timeline for these tenders.
Under the 2025–2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL), PLN plans to develop 315 hydropower projects, comprising both large hydropower plants (PLTA) and mini hydropower plants (PLTM), with a combined capacity of 11.7 GW.
Of the total planned capacity, PLN is responsible for 316 MW across seven hydropower projects and 51.5 MW from 20 mini hydropower projects. PLN's subholding will develop 698.1 MW from 17 hydropower projects and 28.58 MW from nine mini hydropower projects. Meanwhile, independent power producers (IPPs) will account for the largest share, developing 9,441 MW from 48 hydropower projects and 1,110 MW from 214 mini hydropower projects.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak