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Cilacap plant shuts down as coal supplies cease
A steam-generated twin-turbine power plant in Cilacap, Central Java, has ceased all operations indefinitely due to a depleted coal supply
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A steam-generated twin-turbine power plant in Cilacap, Central Java, has ceased all operations indefinitely due to a depleted coal supply.
The plant's technical manager, Sutikno, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday all three of the plant's coal suppliers, who had been sending coal last week, had ceased shipments.
"They said the mining area was flooded, but also that it was a temporary problem. None of the three has given any clear information on when shipping will resume though," Sutikno said.
The three suppliers are PT Adaro Indonesia, which supplies 50 percent of the plant's consumption, PT Jorong Baru Tama and PT Kadeko, which each supply 25 percent.
"Normally, we would have 20 ships arriving from Kalimantan every day. A single ship carries an average of 10,000 tons of coal," he said.
The plant had been operating on a single turbine during the week leading up to last weekend, when supply was cut, he said.
The plant requires between 12,000 and 14,000 tons of coal to operate both turbines for three days.
However, the same amount of coal can power a single turbine over a five or six day period.
The plant, which supplies 3 percent of Java and Bali's electricity, also stopped operating in January due to a supply shortage from Kalimantan.
Tuesday's stoppage further aggravated power supply conditions in Central Java, prompting state power company PT PLN to schedule several blackouts in Central Java.
Over the past three weeks, several areas in the region have experienced blackouts between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The Cilacap plant has a capacity of 600 megawatts. (anw)
