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35,000 MW mega project in possible limbo, says analyst
The ambitious 35,000 megawatt (MW) power project is likely to miss its completion target because of tardiness on PLN's part in submitting the electricity procurement business plan (RUPTL) , an energy analyst says.
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Sidoarjo regent Saiful Illah (left) inspects the control room of a newly installed substation at PLN's facility in Sidoarjo, East Java on March 23. (ANTARA FOTO/Umarul Faruq)
T
he ambitious 35,000 megawatt (MW) power project is likely to miss its completion target because of tardiness on PLN's part in submitting the electricity procurement business plan (RUPTL), an energy analyst says.
Komaidi Notonegoro, executive director of the Jakarta-based research group, ReforMiner Institute, said the state-owned electricity company should have had submitted the RUPTL at the beginning of the year, as the basis of national electricity development including the 35,000 program.
However, PLN had only submitted the draft last week, where the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister is expected to approve it in early June. Meanwhile, the mega project, targeted for completion by 2019, is facing many problems regarding land acquisition.
"Since the beginning, ReforMiner has warned that the program cannot be completed by using a business-as-usual approach. It needs a breakthrough in land acquisition and coordination with local government to succeed," Komaidi told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday.
Based on ReforMiner data, there were 113 power plant projects constrained by land clearance issues in Bali, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Java, Kalimantan, Maluku, Papua, Sulawesi and Sumatra.
One of the problems with the 35,000 MW project is that most of them have yet been included in the provincial spatial plan (RTRW). According to Komaidi, only 51 percent of the projects included were in the regulation and the RTRW, in the concerned area.
"While in the era of regional autonomy today, land acquisition is not in the domain of the central government but is up to local governments, which makes the land acquisition process more complicated," he continued.
Having received PLN’s plan on May 20, the ministry's director general of electricity decided to revise the draft. The revised version of the draft would then be submitted to the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister for approval in June.
"We target the 2016-2025 RUPTL to be approved by the Minister in June, so that the electricity infrastructure can be implemented immediately, particularly the 35,000 MW program," the ministry's public relations head Sujatmiko said.
PLN portion
To expedite the completion of the draft, all related parties held a meeting on Monday to find a solution for three main problems namely the portion of renewable energy in the energy mix, the portion of PLN in the 35,000 MW program and the consistency plan.
The meeting decided to give PLN a 30 percent portion, or 10,233 MW, with a priority to power rural and remote areas. Meanwhile, the portion of renewable energy, excluding nuclear power, was targeted to reach 25 percent in 2025, in accordance with the national energy plan.
The meeting also decided that a 500-kilovolt grid linking Sumatra and Java would be included in the RUPTL, along with the mine-mouth power plants, the Sumsel-9 and Sumsel-10 in South Sumatra, and two 600 MW coal-fired power plants in Jambi.
In addition, coal-fired power plant development should take advantage of clean coal technology (CCT), Sujatmiko added. (ags)
