The operation of Panaran II power plant delayed until October

The operation of the second plant of the Panaran gas fired power plant (Panaran II) in Batam has been delayed until October this year due to financial problems, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

Ida Bagus Gede Mardawa, the corporate secretary of PLN Batam, said in Batam on Monday that operation of Panaran II could not be started this month as initially scheduled due to financial problem.

"In addition to the financial problem, the prolonged negotiations over the gas supply have also caused a delay in the operation of the new power plant," he said.

The Panaran II is part of the expansion of the Panaran I gas-fired power plant being carried out by its operator Dalle Energy. The Panaran II will have two power generating units with a capacity of 30 MW each.

The operator Dalle Enegy initially planned to begin the operation of the new power plant in July, this month. But the operation could not be carried out as scheduled due the company's financial problem.

Mardawa said that the delay would not really affect the power supply in Batam because PLN had leased a diesel power generator from Singapore to cope with the delay in the operation of the Panaran II.

"The leased power generator which has a capacity of 15 MW will be able to begin operation this month," he said. (*)