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PLN’s electricity sales still grow at snail’s pace
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State-owned electricity company PLN technician checks meters at Daan Mogot low-cost apartments in West Jakarta on Nov. 15. (JP/Bangkit Jaya Putra)
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tate electricity firm PLN has said its electricity sales have only grown 3.62 percent annually from January to November, raising further concerns over excess capacity that could choke the company with multi-billion US dollar costs.
Through its electricity procurement business plan (RUPTL) for the 2017-2026 period, PLN has envisioned the development of new power plants with a total capacity of 77.9 gigawatts (GW) based on the assumption that electricity sales will grow 8.3 percent annually.
“However, the assumption is different from the realization as our electricity sales had only climbed 3.62 percent as of November. We estimate that it will only reach 4.1 percent by the end of 2017,” PLN renewable energy division head Tohari Hadiat said Thursday.
Throughout 2016, PLN’s electricity sales increased 6.5 percent year-on-year to 216 terawatt hours (TWh).
With the current RUPTL, PLN has calculated that the reserve margin of its Java-Bali system will reach 55 percent in 2019 and 41 percent in 2026 from only 27 percent this year. The reserve margin is the difference between available capacity and peak demand.
The situation might force PLN to pay US$16.2 billion for idle capacity between 2017 and 2026, according to the United States-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
PLN corporate planning director Syofvi Felienty Roekman previously said the company would adjust the electricity growth assumption in its upcoming RUPTL for the 2018-2027 period to be more realistic, though the figure would still be above the country’s economic growth of around 5 percent. (bbn)
