PTBA?s mine-mouth power plant to start operation soon

A mine-mouth power plant currently being built by state coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) near its mining site in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra is expected to begin commercial operation in the second semester of this year.

?The construction of the new power plant has been 83.13 percent completed,? the company?s president director Sukrisno said.

He said that the construction of the power plant which has capacity of 3 x 10 megawatt was divided into three stages. The first stage is scheduled for completion between August and September, the second stage between November and December and the third stage between February and March, 2012.

?The US$41.4 million power plant will be able to save 50 percent of our electricity spending which is estimated to reach Rp 60 billion,? he said.

Besides the Tanjung Enim power plant, PTBA is also currently building another coal-fired power plant in its coal terminal in Tarahan, Lampung. The US$23.7 million power plant with a capacity of 2 x 8 megawatt is expected to begin commercial operation in 2013.

?The construction of the power plant in Tarahan is underway,? Sukrisno said.(*)