The power plant developer has submitted a request to the plant’s offtaker, state-owned electricity company PLN, to push the facility’s launch of commercial operations back from 2022 to 2025.

“We are currently in talks,” NHSE spokesman Firman Taufick told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. “The point is, we will always follow PLN policies and orders."

NSHE has struggled to bring in 125 Chinese workers, who are employees of the project’s contractor, Beijing-based hydropower giant Sinohydro, after China imposed travel restrictions earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indonesia has also imposed a temporary ban on foreigners from entering the country in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

The Batang Toru plant is slated to become one of Indonesia’s largest hydropower plants at 510 megawatts, which is equal to one-eleventh of the country’s existing hydropower capacity.

NSHE has argued that Batang Toru is essential to meet Indonesia’s renewable energy goals. The country failed to reach its goal of 17.5 percent renewable power in its energy mix by 2019, instead achieving only 12.36 percent.

The developer has cited the Indonesian government’s travel policy during the pandemic as an important factor for the project.

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