WIKA starts N. Sulawesi power plant construction

State construction company PT Wijaya Karya Tbk (WIKA) has started building a 2 x 25 MW coal-fired power plant under the government?s 10,000 MW crash program in North Sulawesi.

The company's Operations Director Slamet Maryono said during the ground-breaking ceremony last week in North Sulawesi's capital of Manado that the plant was the first among the 25 power plants to be constructed outside Java under the 10,000 MW program.

The project is expected to be completed in 2010 with a total cost of Rp 647 billion (1US$=Rp 9,300).

For the next 10 years, he said, the company would build several power plants with a total capacity of 4,000 MW, and the company has participated in tenders for the execution of projects with total value of Rp 10 trillion from 2007 until 2011. (*)