Tambak Lorok gas pipeline project to begin in 2006

The construction of the 120-km gas pipeline linking the Kepodang gas field in Jepara and the Tambak Lorok steam power plant in Semarang, Central Java, is scheduled for commencement in the middle of next year, a source told Bisnis Indonesia on Tuesday.

Eddy Haryono, the head of the mining office of the Central Java provincial administration, said in Semarang on Monday that Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, the developer of the pipeline, was still preparing the tender for the construction works of the pipeline.

“We hope the tender can be completed early next year so that the gas pipeline project could be commenced in the middle of the year,” he was quoted as saying.

The US$500 million gas pipeline will be used to supply gas from the Kepodang gas field in Jepara to PLN’s Tambak Lorok steam power plant in Semarang. The 100 MW power plant, which currently use diesel oil, has been modified to enable it to use gas in order to cut operating costs. (*)