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Nuclear power as cheap as coal, ThorCon promises
PT ThorCon Power Indonesia’s planned low-pressure nuclear power plant could be as cheap an option for electricity production as coal-fired power plants, the company's chief operating officer has said.
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A render of Thorcon International's proposed 500MW floating nuclear plant in Indonesia. (Handout/Thorcon International)
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T ThorCon Power Indonesia's planned low-pressure nuclear power plant could be as cheap an option for electricity production as coal-fired power plants, the company's chief operating officer, Bob S. Effendi, has said.
Bob explained that almost all nuclear power plant projects in the world relied on state-budget funding, because the installation cost for those projects was high at around US$5,000 to $6,000 per kilowatt (kW).
However, "Thorcon's nuclear power plant, because of the low-pressure reactor, is very cheap, as cheap as coal at $1,000 per kW. Therefore, we can finance it with private funding, and we can go with the independent power producer [IPP] scheme," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
“If the concept is IPP, whatever [the parties involved] sign is the binding agreement, and if [the project cost] runs over [the planned] budget, [state-owned utility company] PLN would not care. If it was not completed on time, there would be a high penalty [for the operator],” he said.
Bob went on to reiterate that Thorcon would begin construction of its nuclear power plant in 2025.
Read also: Road still long to Indonesian nuclear power, experts say
Indonesia used to see nuclear power as a “last resort” option for nationwide electrification, as stated in Government Regulation No. 79/2014 on the National Energy Policy (KEN). However, the government has announced plans to revise that regulation to accommodate small-scale nuclear power projects.
