S

tate-run power company PT PLN announced Monday that it had started the commercial operation of the Tanjung Jati B Expansion coal-fired power plant of Unit 4 in Jepara, Central Java, with a total capacity of 660 megawatts (MW).

In December last year, the company also announced the operation of Unit 3 with the same capacity. With the additional two units, the Tanjung Jati B power plant currently has a total capacity of 2,640 MW from the four units installed.

PLN president director Nur Pamudji claimed that full operation of Tanjung Jati B would significantly strengthen the Java-Bali grid system. “Tanjung Jati B contributes more than 20 percent of the total capacity of the country’s coal-fired power plants, which has reached 13,000 MW,” he said.

The presence of the power plant was also expected to encourage investors’ confidence in boosting investment in Central Java, he added.

“The electricity provision in Central Java is already in surplus, so we hope that the operation of Tanjung Jati B can bring more investment and large-scale industries in the province that will lead to more job opportunities,” Pamudji said.

The Tanjung Jati B Unit 4 has been constructed at the same time as the unit 3 on a 150-hectare plot of land. The construction took 35 months, with Sumitomo Corporation and Wasa Mitra Engineering as contractors.

Units 3 and 4 required a total investment of US$2.08 billion with funds from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and other commercial banks.

PLN said in a press statement that the operation of Tanjung Jati B will reduce the company’s oil fuels consumption by 650,000 kiloliters per year. With that, the company may save Rp 8.6 trillion a year.

Units 3 and 4 are designed to be environmentally friendly power plants that use flue-gas desulfurization technology. The technology is used to remove sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil fuel power plants. With that technology, the smoke produced by the power plant will only contain steam.

The Tanjung Jati B is expected to help the country reach the electrification ratio target of 70.6 percent this year, or equal to 2.5 million new customers.