PLN told to execute land acquisition for Batang power project

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has on September 17 issued a letter instructing state-owned electricity firm PT PLN to quickly execute land acquisition for the giant Batang coal-fired power plant project using Law No 2/2012 on land procurement for infrastructure projects as the legal umbrella, Kontan reported on Friday.

MEMR Spokesman Abdurahman Saleh said that other related institutions including the Office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, MEMR, and the Central Java government will help PLN in completing the acquisition of the remaining land requirement for the 2x1,000 MW power plant project in Batang, Central Java.

PLN has been assigned to take over the land acquisition process after PT Bhimasena Power Indonesia (BPI), the developer of the project, failed to complete it.

BPI President Director Mohammad Effendi said that BPI has acquired 197 hectares of the total 226 ha land required for the project, with the remaining 29 ha failed to be acquired as land owners have declined to sell the land to the company.

The difficulties in completing the land acquisition has caused delay in the implementation of the project, Effendi said, pointing out that the project was initially targeted to be completed in 2018 but has now been pushed back to 2019-2020.

Elsewhere, Effendi said that Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) remains committed to provide funding for the estimated US$4 billion project, the cost of which may further inflate due to the delay.

Meanwhile, coordinator of the Batang Regency people, Roldi said that land owners have declined to sell the land for the project on fears that it would cause farmers to lose their agricultural land. ?We want the project to be moved to other area,? he said. (*)