Jakarta
PT North Sumatra Hydro Energy (NSHE) might delay the completion of the Rp 22 trillion (US$1.5 billion) Batang Toru hydropower plant (PLTA) in North Sumatra because of manpower issues. 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 ...