President approves plan to turn PLN into service company
Thursday, April 9 2015 - 01:23 AM WIB
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has approved a plan to turn state-owned electricity company PT. Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) into a service company, which means that the utility would no longer be involved in power plant construction in the future, Kontan reported on Thursday.
Jokowi said that considering the huge electricity demand in the country, PLN would not have the financing capacity if it is given sole responsibility in building the required power plants.
He said hat to build the 35,000 MW power plants target until 2019, about Rp 1,200 trillion of investment will be required. Turning PLN into a service company provides opportunities for independent power products to build the required power plants in the country.
PLN President Director Sofyan Basir said that the move to turn PLN into a service company was solely based on PLN?s limited financing capacity issue in building power plants. (*)