Transportation of coal for Suralaya power plants disrupted

Coal transportation from Muara Enim in South Sumatra to Tarahan in Lampung has been disrupted because seven railway coaches operated by state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) derailed at a place between the two areas, Suara Pembaruan reported Thursday.

The train was transporting coal from the mines of state coal firm PT Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) in Muara Enim when the railway coaches jumped the rails in a village in Ogan Komering Ulu regency on Wednesday, the paper said.

The item was meant for Suralaya power plants in Banten which are operated by state power firm PT Indonesia Power. The plants are seven in all with combined capacity of 3,400 megawatts.

Workers were trying to remove the railway coaches from trolley tracks, but KAI’s spokesperson Patrya Supriyoso said Thursday the work would possibly take about two weeks to complete. Meanwhile, a special team from the Ministry of Transportation had arrived in South Sumatra to probe into the accident.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Power’s technical director Bambang Istiedi told paper the coal transportation trouble would not affect coal supply to Suralaya. This was because the power plant could also receive coal from PTBA’s Muara Enim mines through Kertapati coal port in south Sumatra. So far, KAI had carried PTBA’s Mura Enim coal to Karahan and Kertapati, from where the commodity was shipped to Banten. Moreover, Suralaya, the largest electricity supplier for Java-Bali’s interconnection system, also receives coal from East Kalimantan.

KAI had set a target to transport this year 7.2 million tons of coal from Muara Enim to Tarahan, and 1.2 million tons from Muara Enim to Kertapati.

KAI had transported PTBA’s coal from Muara Enim to the two ports over the past years, under long-term contracts. (*)