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n line with its commitment to further increase supply and improve its distribution system, state electricity company PT PLN will allocate up to Rp 69 trillion (US$7.6 billion) in capital expenditures (capex) in 2012, a 15 percent increase from Rp 60 trillion this year.

PLN president director Nur Pamudji said on Tuesday that about Rp 33.6 trillion of total capital spending would come from the company’s own budget, Rp 8.9 trillion from the state budget (APBN), Rp 9.8 trillion from subsidiary loans and the remaining Rp 16.7 trillion from bank loans.

“Next year’s capex will be higher than this year’s in order to be able to expand electricity services,” Nur said in Jakarta after the company’s general meeting of shareholders (RUPS) at the state-owned enterprises ministry.

He said that the Rp 33.6 trillion would be used to build power plants and to evaluate the PLN’s first 10,000 megawatt (MW) fast-track program, as well as to strengthen electricity distribution systems in larger cities.

Nur said that the Rp 8.9 trillion from the state budget would be used to further develop electricity distribution facilities in rural areas and to develop renewable energy, while the Rp 9.8 trillion from the subsidiary loans would be used to develop nationwide power grids.

In addition to capex, Nur said PLN would also allocate Rp 191.2 trillion for operational expenditures next year in order to purchase fuel and electricity to rent power plants as well as cover expenditures for maintenance and administration.

PLN has priority programs in place next year, including to ensure sufficient electricity supply to increase the number of pre-paid electricity subscribers to improve the distribution system and any potential reductions in basic costs (BPP) by the operation of more non-fuel power plants.

With all these programs, PLN has expected to be able to add 2.54 million new customers in 2012. “Hopefully, with the new customers, we could be able to boost the electrification ratio to 75 percent from 71 percent this year,” Nur said.

According to him, PLN has targeted to produce 172.17 terrawat hours (TWh) of electricity across the country or an increase of electricity consumption up to 9.8 percent in 2012.

Next year, PLN will operate several new power plants, some of them are the 2x100 MW Tarahan coal-fired power plant in Lampung and the 2x110 MW Nagan Raya coal-fired power plant in Aceh.

In order to further cut down on operating costs and to meet demand from new thermal power plants, PLN also plans to increase the use of coal to 39.6 million tons, about a 34 increase from this year’s usage.

“The 39 million tons will be used for PLN’s own power plants, and is part of the company’s budget plan,” he added. He said coal demand for independent power plants that sold their electricity to PLN was projected to reach 12 million tons next year.

“It means the total coal demand for power plants will reach 51.6 million tons next year,” he added.

He said that PLN’s gas demand was also projected to increase by 25 percent next year to 356.36 trillion British thermal unit (BTU) from this year’s level. A part of the gas supply will be obtained from a floating storage and re-gasification unit currently being built in an offshore area off North Jakarta.