PLN to tender 4 power plants under 2nd crash program

Alfian , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 11/20/2009 1:05 PM

State utility company PT PLN plans to open tenders for construction of four power plants with the total capacity of 1,648 megawatt (MW) next year, a director said.

"All the power plants are included in the second phase 10,000 MW electricity crash program. We expect to open the tender for the construction in 2010," PLN's planning and technology director Bambang Praptono told reporters Thursday.

The four power plants are: the 1,000 MW Cisokan power plant in West Java; the 2x100 MW New North Sumatra power plant in North Sumatra; the 2x174 MW Asahan III power plant in North Sumatra; and the 2x50 MW Parit Baru power plant in West Kalimantan, he added.

Bambang said the construction of these power plants would require as much as US$1 billion for the Cisokan power plant; $500 million for the New North Sumatera power plant; $300 million for the Asahan III power plant; and $250 million for the Parit Baru plant.

"As for the Cisokan power plant, we have got a $1 billion loan commitment from World Bank. We will open the tender for its construction next year and the power plant is expected to be on stream between 2013 and 2014," Bambang said.

The remaining projects may be financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and by a consortium of banks from China, he added.

The government launched the first 10,000 MW power project in 2006, in a bid to anticipate increasing demand for electricity, which has been growing by at least 7 percent annually.

The second phase 10,000 MW program is being planned now and is scheduled to be implemented between 2010 and 2014.

In a presentation in August, PLN said the projects under the program were expected to generate a total electricity capacity of 10,580 MW. Of this capacity, 5,685 MW will be located in Java and the remaining 4,895 MW will be outside Java.

The construction of the power plants under the project will require $10 billion, PLN's president director Fahmi Mochtar said Oct. 20.

Bambang said that one of the power plants under the second 10,000 MW project, the 120 MW Lahendong IV geothermal power plant in North Sulawesi, has already secured a financing commitment and has selected the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor.

The $30 million power plant will be financed by a loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB), while its EPC will be done by Sumitomo.

Under the second crash program, it is proposed that 12 percent of the power generated will be generated by hydro plants, 48 percent from geothermal plants, and 14 percent from gas plants, and the remaining 26 percent from coal fired plants.

Under the first 10,000 MW program, all the proposed power plants were coal-fired.