China has been involved in the construction of a high-speed railway, worth more than $5 billion, connecting Jakarta and Bandung in West Java. Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the government was inviting Chinese investors to cooperate in the development of the four dams, namely Pelosika Dam in Southeast Sulawesi, Rokan Kiri Dam in Riau, Jenelata Dam in South Sulawesi and Riam Kiwa Dam in South Kalimantan.

“I have also asked for support from the Water Resources Ministry of China,” Basuki said recently after his meeting with visiting Chinese Water Resources Minister Chen Lei in Jakarta.

The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry’s director general for water resources, Imam Santoso, said the four dams were offered to investors because of their huge hydropower potential.

The four dams in offer also have the potential to generate power.

Pelosika Dam, for example, is expected to provide irrigation for more than 16,000 hectares of land, while also having the potential to produce hydroelectricity with a maximum capacity of 21 megawatts (MW).

Meanwhile, Rokan Kiri Dam is expected to be able to irrigate 4,000 ha of land and have the potential to power hydropower plants at a capacity of 74.4 MW.

Indonesia previously worked on Jatigede Dam in West Java with Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation, with 90 percent of construction costs covered by Chinese loans. The operation of the dam began in 2015.

State electricity firm PLN later chose the same company to be the contractor of a hydro power plant worth $150 million at the dam. Expected to be completed by 2019, the plant is designed to supply up to 110 MW of electricity.

Indonesia plans to build 65 dams by 2019, 49 of which will be newly built dams while the rest are continuations from the previous government. The 49 new dams are expected to hold 7 billion cubic meters of water.

So far Indonesia has built 231 dams with a total capacity to contain 12 billion cubic meters of water.

Bank Indonesia (BI) projects the country to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2020 if paddy conversion stops and the government is consistent in its efforts to increase the size of paddies and develop irrigation infrastructure.

The central bank predicts rice production to reach more than 50 million tons in 2020, while consumption is predicted to reach fewer than 43 million tons.

China, meanwhile, has built 100,000 dams, with a capacity of between 10 million and 100 million cubic meters of water. It is also home to the world’s largest dam, the Three Gorges Dam, which has a capacity of 700 billion cubic meters of water and an electric capacity of 22,000 MW.

Commenting on Indonesia’s proposal, Minister Chen Lei said that Indonesia remained a key partner for China, especially considering the strong relationship between the two countries.

“We will seriously consider loan provisions,” he said.

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