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35,000 MW program achievable by 2021: DEN
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Power house: A PLN worker carries out a routine inspection at the 150 KV Mampang Dua electrical relay station in Jakarta.
(Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
T
he National Energy Board (DEN) has estimated that the government’s ambitious program to procure 35,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity can only be completed as early as 2021, two years after the project’s designated deadline.
DEN member Rinaldy Dalimi said the timeframe, however, was still an optimistic estimate, as state-owned electricity company PLN would need two to three years to complete construction after financial closure.
“If everything goes well, it [the project] will most likely be completed two years after the deadline,” he said on Monday.
The latest data from PLN shows that only seven power plants with a total capacity of 4,580 MW reached financial closure throughout last year. The company has set a target to financially close nine power plant projects with a capacity of 4,570 MW by the end of this year’s first semester.
(Read also: Setback in 35,000 MW project irks Jokowi)
Both the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and PLN have predicted that with the program’s current progress and the country’s economic growth, only around 20,000 to 22,000 MW will likely be procured by 2019.
However, the government has decided to maintain the target in the General Planning for National Energy (RUEN), which has reportedly been signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the form of a presidential regulation. The RUEN stipulates that 114,000 MW will be procured by 2025, comprising the 35,000 MW megaproject and the fast-track program I and II, both of which were left over from former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration.
The 35,000 MW project is basically a continuation of the 10,000 MW policy launched by Yudhoyono during his tenure in 2005 in order to maintain reserve margins — the difference between capacity and demand — with the International Energy Agency’s recommended level of 20 to 35 percent.
As the nation is at risk of a power crisis should the level decline to below 20 percent, Jokowi, who was inaugurated as the country’s seventh president on Oct. 20, 2014, took the initiative to boost power capacity to spur economic growth. (hwa)
