PLN to tender power plant projects of Phase Two 10,000 MW program

State owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to call for bids for construction of four power plants with the total capacity of 1,648 megawatt (MW) next year, a director said, Jakarta Post reported Friday.

?All the power plants are included in the Phase Two 10,000 MW electricity crash program. We expect to open the tender for the construction in 2010,? PLN?s Planning and Technology Director Bambang Praptono told reporters Thursday.

The four power plants are the 1,000 MW Cisokan power plant in West Java; the 2x100 MW New North Sumatra power plant in North Sumatra; the 2x174 MW Asahan III power plant in North Sumatra; and the 2x50 MW Pant Barn power plant in West Kalimantan, he added.

Bambang said the funds needed for the project are US$1 billion for the Cisokan power plant; $500 million for the New North Sumatera power plant; $300 million for the Asahan III power plant; and $250 million for the Pant Barn plant.

?As for the Cisokan power plant, we have got a $1 billion loan commitment from World Bank. We will open the tender for its construction next year and the power plant is expected to be on stream between 2013 and 2014,? Bambang said.

The remaining projects may be financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and by a consortium of banks from China, he added.

The government launched the Phase One 10,000 MW power project in 2006, in a bid to anticipate increasing demand for electricity, which has been growing by at least 7 percent annually.

The Phase Two 10,000 MW program is being planned now and is scheduled to be implemented between 2010 and 2014. (*)