PLN to get Rp 1.5 trillion loan from BRI to build more power plants

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/18/2009 12:51 PM

State power firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), currently riddled with power blackout problems, will soon secure a Rp 1.5 trillion (about US$160 million) loan from Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) for construction of four power plants under the government's 10,000 megawatt (MW) electricity crash program.

The four power plants are t a 2x10 MW Power Plant, the 2x7 MW Riau Selat Panjang Power Plant, the 2x7 MW Tanjung Balai Karimun Power Plant, and the 2x50 West Kalimantan Power Plant, PLN's director Fahmi Mochtar said in a text message on Wednesday.

"The loan has a maturity period of ten years. We are still waiting for the approval from the finance minister. We expect to sign the loan agreement in December," Fahmi said.

The 10,000 MW program was launched by the government in 2006 in a bid to anticipate the increasing demand of electricity which reach about 7 percent a year. The projects consists 35 power plant sites, with 10 of them located in Java and the remaining 25 located outside Java.