Two units of Lahendong geothermal plant stop operation
Friday, November 18 2016 - 01:30 AM WIB
The Directorate General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said it is concerned with the current condition of the Lahendong geothermal power plant in North Sulawesi as two of its units have ceased operation.
Director of Geothermal at the ministry, Yunus Saefulhak said that the unit 1 and 4 of the Lahendong geothermal power plant with capacity of 2x20 MW operated by state-owned electricity firm PT PLN have stopped operation.
?The two units suffer a breakdown, one for about a year, and another two months ago,? Yunus told Petromindo.com on Thursday.
Yunus said that the Lahendong geothermal power plant has five units with combined capacity of 100 MW, of which unit 1 and 4 are operated by PLN, while the remainders by PT Pertamina Geothermal Energi (PGE), a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.
PGE President Director Irfan Zainuddin told Petromindo.com that the stoppage of unit 1 and 4 has caused the company to be unable to distribute optimally the geothermal steam to the Lahendong plant. ?We have been forced to clasp one geothermal well in Lahendong because the steam could not be absorb by PLN,? he said, adding that PLN has promised to complete the repair by the end of this year.
Elsehwere, Irfan said that PGE is currently in the process of completing construction of unit 6 of the Lahendong geothermal power plant with capacity of 20 MW, hopefully completed in December, and is scheduled to be inaugurated by President Joko Widodo.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak