PLN to switch from oil to LPG to fuel its power plants

State-owned electricity firm PT PLN is preparing to switch from oil products to liquifed petroleum gas (LPG) to fuel some of its power plants, a company official said Thursday.

PLN director Ali Herman Ibrahim said the program would start with the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Tambak Lorok power plant in Semarang, the 80-MW Sunyaragi in Cirebon, West Java, the 27-MW Siantan in West Kalimantan and another power plant in East Kalimantan.

Ali, however, said the program was temporary in nature and would be carried out only if there was a trouble in the supply of oil to the power plants.

The LPG will be supplied by state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.

Meanwhile, PLN's subsidiary PT Indonesia Power said on Thursday that it is modifying one unit of its Tambak Lorok power plant to make it able to consume the new fuel type.

Indonesia Power's operation director Achmad Sadikin said the modification works are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

He said the modified unit would consume around 300 ton of LPG per day and the use of LPG would result in the decrease in the consumption of oil fuel by the power plant by up to 360,000 liter per day. (dino/godang)