West Kalimantan to get additional power from Serawak
Tuesday, January 19 2016 - 01:46 AM WIB
West Kalimantan will get additional power supplies from Malaysian state of Serawak starting in February 2016, state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said in a statement on Monday.
The power will be supplied to PLN in West Kalimantan by Syarikat Sarawak Electrical Supply Corporation (Sesco) Berhad (Bhd).
?High voltage powerline between Serawak and Bengkayang have been ready, is now undergoing tests by us and the Malaysian company,? Ricky Cahya, PLN?s Distribution and Service Area Manager in West Kalimantan said.
Based on plans, the load will be 50 MW during daytime and 230 MW at night. The load is considered to be enough to meet the province?s power needs until after the PLTU Kalbar 1, 2 and 3 coal fired power plant projects have been completed.
PLN will buy the power at Rp 1,500 per kWh, while if the firm uses diesel power generators, the cost is between Rp 2,500 and Rp 3,000 per kWh. PLN will thus be able to save Rp 3.5 billion in cost per day by selling the Serawak power to the public in the province rather than operate its own diesel power generators.
According to reports, people in the province has been getting supplies for Serawak for years due to the lack of supplies from PLN.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon