W. Nusa Tenggara to build 7 power plants

West Nusa Tenggara will soon construct seven coal-fired power plants to cope with the power crisis facing the province.

The province governor Zainul Majdi said in Mataram Wednesday that three power plants, each of a capacity of 25 megawatts will be built in Lombok, two 6-megawatt plants in Sumbawa regency, and two other 10-megawatts plants in Bima and Dompu regencies.

Currently, the province receive power supply from in the Lombok, Sumbawa and Bima systems.

“The system has a combined capacity of more than 136 megawatts and a combined peak load of 143 megawatts,” he told Antara news agency.

A power deficit reaching 15 megawatts occurred in Lombok during the peal load period in the evenings.

Request from the public for power connection continued to increase, and now some new 100,000 prospective electricity subscribers are on the waiting list.

"A marine power generating project is also being built in Peringgabaya, Lombok Timur regency, to provide electricity to 200 families," he said. (dre)