Vice president calls for subsidy for micro hydropower

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has sent a letter to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said, calling him to provide a better price for power from micro hydropower plants,, Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) said in a statement on Friday.

?Power from micro hydropower plant projects deserve a better price than the one given to large hydropower plants. We should give them a bonus,? Kalla said during a seminar on energy diversification titled ?Setting Direction for Indonesian Energy Policy? in Jakarta.

He noted that all micro hydropower plant projects are owned by small and medium enterprises and most of the equipment is made domestically. And micro hydropower plants are built to meet the power needs in remote areas.

?I have a lot of such projects in my hometown. And the price (of the power) is low, between 5 to 6 US cents per kWh,? he said.

In order to operate smoothly, micro hydropower plants should receive a price of Rp 1,000 (around 11 cents) per kWh for their power, he said.

According to Kalla, state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) pays Rp 900 per kWh for power from the Serawak hydropower plant in Malaysia. Meanwhile, PLN pays only Rp 500 per kWh for power from micro hydropower plants.

PLN should set uniform prices for all hydropower plants, Kalla said.

EBTKE said under the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regaulation No. 12/2014, PLN?s purchasing price of micro hydropower is set at Rp 1,075 per kWh, an increase from the previous price of Rp 656 per kWh.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon