Progress of PLTU Jawa-7 project reaches 40%

By Nova Farida

Petromindo|Boim

Construction progress of the 2x1,000 MW PLTU Jawa-7 coal-fired power plant project in Serang, Banten Province, has now reached 40 percent, providing optimism that the first unit of 1x1,000 MW can start operation in 2019 as planned.

?Construction progress has reached 40 percent. We?re optimistic it could start operation as planned,? said President Director of PT Pembangkit Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of state-owned electricity firm PT PLN, Iwan Agung Firstantara to Petromindo.com on Wednesday.

He said that the power plant will require 7 million tons per annum of coal with calorific value of 4,000-4,600 kcal/kg. He declined to disclose the coal source. ?It will be decided by PLN, and is still at the stage of negotiation. Probably it (the coal) will come from Sumatra,? Iwan said.

The project is being developed by PT Shenhua Guohua Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PT SGPJB), which is 70 percent owned by China?s Shenhua Energy Company, and the remaining 30 percent held by PJB. The estimated US$2 billion project is funded by China Development Bank.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak