Six firms take part in PLN?s tender of undersea cable EPC project

Six companies are competing to win the state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara's (PLN) tender for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to develop a US$60 million project of undersea cable that will link Java to Bali with a capacity of 200 megawatt.

?Now only six companies are left. They?re shortlisted from 12 companies previously registered to join the EPC tender,? PLN?s president director Dahlan Iskan said in Jakarta on Monday before attending a hearing with the Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR).

Based on PLN's plan, the winner of the tender will finance the project. The undersea cable, which will transmit electricity from Banyuwangi in East Java to Gilimanuk in Bali will start operation at the end of 2011.

?The project development will be started next year as the winner has to make cables first. The installment of the cables on the seabed will only take about two months, but it can only be done from September to November. It cannot be done in other months. So it can only be completed at the end of 2011,? he said.

He noted that of the existing 11 undersea cable lines, nine are already out of function. ?Only two cable lines with a capacity of 200 MW are in good condition. With the new undersea cable project, the total capacity will be 400 MW. We hope that it will strengthen the already existing Java-Bali interconnection,? he said.

But he declined to identify the six companies. He only said that they were from Europe, Japan, and China. (bernard)