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PLN plans to complete 2,933-km power line project in Sumatra in H1
The Tol Listrik Sumatra project will expand connections between areas in Sumatra that are already covered by electricity networks.
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A worker conducts maintenance on an extra high-voltage power line. (Antara/Asep Fathulrahman)
S
tate-owned electricity company PLN plans to complete a 2,933-kilometer extra high-voltage power line, dubbed the Tol Listrik Sumatra project, in the first half of 2019 to expand electricity connections on the country’s second largest island.
“The 275 kV Sarulla-Simangkuk line is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019,” said PLN spokesman Dwi Suryo Abdullah as quoted by kontan.co.id on Thursday.
Initially, the completion target for phase one of the project was in April, but it was delayed because of several problems, including challenging weather and geography.
Dwi said that since 2016, PLN had constructed transmission networks and 150 kV substations. With the project, he said, PLN would be able to expand connections between areas in Sumatra that were already covered by electricity networks.
“If the Sarulla-Simangkuk line is completed, the 275 kV transition of the Lahat-Binjai and Pangkalan Susu areas will be connected,” he said, adding that the line would become the backbone of the electricity system in Sumatra.
He said the project would also lower transmission costs as around 200 megawatts of electricity would be distributed from southern Sumatra to northern Sumatra.
He said the project could also improve PLN’s performance in Sumatra because it would reduce electricity loss during distribution because the 150 kV transmission networks would connect Aceh in the north of the island and Lampung in the south.
He added that the second phase of the Tol Listrik Sumatra project – the 275 kV North Sumatera-Aceh line and the 275 kV Lumut Balai-Muara Enim-Gumawang-Lampung line – were targeted for completion in 2021.
Each kilometer of the project cost between Rp 4.5 billion (US$313,051) to Rp 5 million with the funds coming from PLN, the state budget and loans, he said. (bbn)
