SBY launches Kalija pipeline megaproject
Friday, March 14 2014 - 08:28 AM WIB
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono broke ground on Friday for the construction of Kalija gas pipeline megaproject that will channel gas from various fields in Java and East Kalimantan to Java.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the PLTGU Tambak Lorok combined cycle power plant owned by state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) in Semarang, the capital of Central Java province. Present during the ceremony were Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik, Chairman of downstream regulator BPH Migas Andi M. Sommeng, acting Chairman of upstream authority SKK Migas J, Widjonarko, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and PGN?s President Director Hendi P. Santoso.
The project will be developed by PT Kalimantan Jawa Gas (KJG) which is 80 percent owned by state owned distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara and 20 percent PT Bakrie & Brothers.
The project will be divided into two construction phases. In the Phase I, a 207 km, 14 inch pipeline will be built to link the Kepodang field offshore Central Java owned by Petronas Carigali to the Tambak Lorok power plant owned state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). This will be followed up with the Kalija Phase II project where a 1,200 km, 36 inch pipeline will be built to connect the Kalija Phase I pipeline with gas fields in East Kalimantan.
The Kalija Phase I project is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2015 and it will transmit 116 mmscfd of gas from Kepodang, according to Jero.
As part of the project, a vast distribution pipeline network will be built across Central Java to distribute the gas that will be transmitted through the Kalija pipeline. The distribution network will built in three corridors, namely the Corridor I where a 48-km, 16-inch pipeline will built from Kendal to Semarang and Demak; the Corridor II , where a 34-km, 16-inch pipeline will be built in Ungaran area; and the Corridor II, where a 235-km, 16-inch pipeline will built from Solo Raya to Pekalongan, PGN?s Corporate Communication Head Ridha Ababil told reporters on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony.
The Kalija project was won by Bakrie I 2006. But, Bakrie could not realize the project as expected that the Government on Feb. 7, 2014 decided that the Kalija project should be developed by PGN and Bakrie with a 80-20 share composition.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon