Tunneling starts at PLTA Jatigede project

State owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) (Persero) said the 2x55 MW PLTA Jatigede hydropower project in Tomo and Jategede districts, Sumedang regency, West Java province has achieved an important milestone, marked by the kickoff of tunneling work on Wednesday.

The first tunneling was carried out at Adit Tunnel 2, while Adit Tunnel 1 is now being prepared for tunneling, PLN said in a statement on Thursday.

?The construction of Adit Tunnel was carried out in a new location because the initially planned location is prone to landslide. Thanks God, the tunneling work ran well as planned,? Anang Yahmadi, General Manager for Development of Power Plants in Central Java 1, said.

The hydropower plant, which is part of the 35,000 MW program, was among those on which President Joko Widodo broke ground in May 2015 in Samas Bantul, Yogyakarta province. The project is scheduled to achieve Commercial Operation Date (COD) in 2019.

Although the general construction program has been revised, PLN is optimistic to achieve the COD in March 2019 as planned. The contractor of the project may speed up the construction. The relocation of villagers from the project?s area is scheduled to be carried out in July 2016, which will enable the contractor to carry out excavation at powerhouse area at full speed, the firm said.

The project is financed by PLN. The firm has allocated US$30 million in budget for the project and has thus far spent $5-6 million, Anang said.

PLTA Jatigede will use water from the Jatigede reservoir that has been built by the Ministry of Public Works and People?s Housing. It is the country?s second largest dam after the Jatiluhur reservoir in Purwakarta, also in West Java. The development of the dam affected 11,469 families with land areas of 4,983 ha.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon