PLN to start Asahan Unit III construction in 2011

State owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to build another power generator at the Asahan hydropower plant in North Sumatra in early 2011.

The power plant now has two power generators each with the capacity of 90 Megawatt (MW).

?At present, the project is still in feasibility study. The construction will start in early next year and it expected to be completed in 2014,? PLN?s Planning and Technology Director Nasri Sebayang said.

The project is estimated to be worth US$230 million and all the funds will be provided by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), he said.

Initially, the rights to build the project was given to PLN with funds expected to come from Japan bank International Corporation (JBIC) in 1980?s. However, the delay in realizing the project prompted the North Sumatra provincial administration to give the project to PT Mega Mandiri Power in 2004.

In 2007, PLN recouped the project after Mandiri Mega Power decided to withdraw from the project.

In November 2009, PLN announced that the Asahan Unit III is part of the Phase Two 10,000 MW electricity crash program, whose tender is scheduled to be launched this year. (*)