PLN to receive gas from Arun for Aceh and Medan

State owned electricity company PT Perusahaan listrik Negara (PLN) will receive gas supply from Arun to meet gas needs for industrial activities in northern Sumatra including in Aceh and Medan, the company?s president director Nur Pamudji said

He said that the gas would be provided by the Arun LNG plant which would be modified into a gas receiving terminal. ?We will receive gas supply of about 1 million tons a year,? he added.

State gas distributing company PGN previously said it would build a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Belawan, North Sumatra to provide gas for industries in Aceh and Medan. But State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said that the plan would be cancelled because the government would prefer to convert the Arun LNG plant as the receiving terminal. He said that the Belawan FSRU project would be relocated to Lampung.

About the plan to build an FSRU in Lampung, Nur said that PLN had not been officially informed about it, but he said that it would be good if there is an FSRU in Lampung so that PLN would have an alternative source for gas supply.

PGN had begun the preparation work for the development of the FSRU in Belawan. The company had signed a head of agreement with a consortium of Hoegh LNG and PT Rekayasa Industri to build the FSRU. PGN had also named a consortium of Utama Karya ? Darma Empat Lima ? Hamarun Jaya as the contractor for the construction of a pipeline from the FSRU facilities to PGN customers in Medan, while PT KHI Pipe Industries was supposed to become the suplier of the pipes. (*)