PLN to speed up construction of two non-fuel power plants

State-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will speed up the construction of two power plants, which do not use oil as its fuel, the Investor Daily Indonesia newspaper reported in its Thursday edition.

The two power plants – coal-fired power plant at Cilacap, Central Java and gas turbine combined-cycle power plant in Cilegon, Banten – will be built by 2005.

PLN will be doing this for not only to meet the existing power supply shortages but also to avoid usage of oil, whose current prices are at US$50 per barrel, for power generation.

“It is our short-term policy to reduce the usage of fuel. This has been prepared long ago. We hope it (building of power plants) will be completed in 2005,” PLN president director Eddie Widiono said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the National Electricity Day celebration ceremony in Jakarta.

Eddie mentioned that the soaring global fuel prices have become a burden on PLN’s finances. Because around 16 percent of its power plants are using fuel in their operations. PLN has to spend 60 percent of its budget for production on fuel, coal and gas or around Rp 25 trillion. From this, PLN will spend around Rp 15 trillion alone on fuel.

After the operation of two non-fuel based power plants, the share of power plants that use fuel will drop to 4 percent from the present 16 percent. (*)