Up to half of the projects included in the first 10,000 megawatt (MW) power program will be ready by mid-2010, a minister says, although delays at some of the plants may prevent this.
The government was upbeat about completing half of the power plants in the 10,000 megawatt (MW) program by mid 2010, but construction delays have been encountered at a number of the plants in the program.
“God Willing, by mid 2010, almost half of the [first] 10,000 MW project will be complete,” Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh said Tuesday.
Plants expected to be operational by mid 2010 include Indramayu (3x330 MW), Paiton (660 MW), Suralaya (625 MW) and the second unit in Rembang (315 MW), Electricity and Energy Utilization Director General J. Purwono said.
“Financing for these plants has been secured and around half of the construction has been finished,” he said.
However, Purwono suggested a more flexible completion schedule for the plants.
“The plants are expected to be complete sometime between [June and December] 2010,” Purwono said.
The 10,000 MW program was launched by the government in 2006, with state utility firm PT PLN being the executor, anticipating increasing demand for electricity, with growth of more than 7 percent per year.
The project was expected to compensate for a power deficit across Indonesia, resulting largely from an absence of new power plants since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, which crippled the economy and dampened investor confidence in Indonesia.
The program includes the development of more than 30 existing and planned power plants, ten of which are in Java.
All power plants will be coal-fuelled.
While the government may expect to complete half of the program by mid 2010, it has already fallen short of its 2009 target.
Earlier, three of the power plants in the program — the first unit of the Labuan Power Plant (2x315 MW), the first unit of the Rembang Power Plant (315 MW) and the first unit of the Indramayu Power Plant (330 MW) — were expected to be opened this month.
However, Darwin said only two would be ready.
“It was reported that the opening of one of the plants ... had been delayed,” he said.
The project facing delays was the first Indramayu Power Plant, Purwono said.
The delays were caused by the loan disbursement from Chinese banks, which had taken longer than expected, he said.
“The loan is now secured and the project could be finished within three to six months,” he said.
In addition to the first 10,000 MW program, the government is currently working on the second 10,000 MW program.
The second program will generate 12 percent of its power from hydroelectric plants, 48 percent from geothermal plants, 14 percent from gas-fired plants, and the remaining 26 percent from coal-fired plants.
