PLN to recondition Suralaya power plant 2005/06

State electricity firm PLN said Wednesday it planned to recondition four unit of Suralaya coal-fired power plant in 2005 and 2006.

?Recondition is needed as Suralaya 1-4 plants had been operating for more than 15 years. We will need US$ 72 million fund to conduct the recondition and we are expecting that Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will provide the loan,? said PLN director Ali Herman Ibrahim.

Suralaya has seven power plants with combined capacity of 3,400 MW, while Suralaya 1-4 has the capacity of 1,600 MW.

Ali said the recondition would take 6 months for each plant, but each unit will be shut down only for three months. ?We will conduct recondition one by one so as not to disturb power supply to West Java,? said Ali. Suralaya, which is operated by PLN?s 100 percent-owned subsidiary Indonesia Power, is the backbone of West Java power supply.(alex)