PTBA, KAI and Ind. Power to team up to boost coal transport capacity

State coal mining firm PT. Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam said it was in talks with state railway firm PT. KAI and Indonesia Power to set up joint cooperation to increase coal transportation capacity from its Tanjung Enim mine to Tarahan port in Lampung and to Kertapati port in South Sumatra.

?We are currently studying the cooperation scheme including funding scheme, and hope to carry out the plan as soon as possible,? the company said in a statement. PTBA, however, did not give detail when the plan would be executed.

PTBA said the plan was to boost coal transportation capacity to Tarahan to 12.5 million tons per annum and to Kertapati to 2.5 million tons per annum. In 2003, PTBA only transported 8.35 million tons of coal to Tarahan and Kertapati.

Railway transportation had long been a headache for PTBA, who depends all its Tanjung Enim coal transportation on Railway. Poor railroad condition along Tanjung Enim ? Tarahan had forced the company to reduce supply Indonesia Power?s Suralaya 34,400-MW power plant in Banten, causing Java-Bali electricity system on alert.

Currently, KAI only able to transport less than 15,000 tons of coal per day to Tarahan, far lower than normal capacity of around 20,000 tons per day. (godang)