Sijantang power plant?s capacity to be increased to 400 MW

The provincial administration of West Sumatra will increase the capacity of coal-fired Sijantang power plant in Sawahlunto from to 400 Megawatt (MW) from 200 MW at present in order to over come the power crisis.

West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi said that the Sijantang complex was actually designed to have a total capacity of 400 MW.

The effort to double the power plant?s capability, according to Gamawan, is very desperate because the power crisis in the province has already reached the alarming level as there has been no new power plant whereas the numbers of consumers has been growing significantly.

?The power supply to this province has already reached a crisis level. During the peak hours, the province needs 300 MW of power supply. But at present the available power supply capacity is just 308 MW," Gamawan told the Bisnis Indonesia in Padang on Wednesday.

Gamawan said an Australian investor interested to extract coal through underground mining in Sawahlunto to enable it to supply coal to the proposed additional unit of Sijantang power plant.

The governor said he would hold talks with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, state electricity firm PT PLN, state owned coal mining firm PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam and Sawahlunto administration to realize the plan. (*)