Completion Of PLN's Power Project Delayed

Palembang, August 10 (ANTARA) - State electricity company PT PLN said completion of its mega project to build coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 10,000 megawatt would be delayed again. So far implementation of the project has succeeded only in generating 4,500 MW of power channeled to the PLN`s system,a PLN executive said. The rest with a capacity of 5,500 MW is expected to be operational in 2013, Harry Jaya Pahlawan, PLN`s operation director for western Indonesia, said here on Friday. Almost all contractors could not immediately start construction as scheduled mainly on financing hurdles resulting in delay in completion originally scheduled in 2010-2011. Harry said by the end of this year an additional supply of 3,000 MW is expected from more power plants to come on stream. "In Sumatra new units in Nagan Raya, Tarakan and Teluk Siri are expected to come on line before the end of this year," he said . Most of other plants with much larger capacity in Java are expected to follow in 2013 to feed the Java-Bali interconnection, he added. He said there has been no much headway made in the development of renewable energy "In the next two years we hope power plants using renewable energy would make up 15-20 percent of the country`s power plants," he said, adding , currently power plants are dominated by ones using coal and gas fuel. Renewable energy such as geothermal and water would contribute more significantly to power production in the second "fast track" program to build power plants with a total capacity of 10,000 MW. In 2011, fossil energy accounted for 21 percent, coal for 46 percent and gas for 21 percent of power generated by PLN. Originally the second fast track program of PLN is to be completed in 2014, but construction is expected to be wrapped up only in 2018 with long delay in implementation.