Indonesia And Malaysia To Begin Power Trade In 2014

Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- Indonesia's state power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to begin a large-scale electricity trading with Malaysia in 2014, after the construction of a transmission network connecting West Kalimantan and Sarawak in Malaysia. PLN president director Nur Pamudji said between 50 and 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity could be traded via the planned 275-kilovolt (kV) transmission line. The discussions on constructing the necessary facilities were underway, Nur Pamudji was quoted by English daily, The Jakarta Post, Tuesday. "Actually, we currently import electricity from Sarawak, but the capacity is very small, below 1 MW from a micro hydro-power plant," he said. Nur Pamudji said another transmission line connecting Indonesia and Malaysia would integrate coal-rich South Sumatera and Peninsular Malaysia. A 250-kV subsea cable would be laid to deliver electricity from coal-fired power plants in South Sumatera. "However, discussions on the construction of the two transmission lines have not yet gone into detail," he said. Meanwhile, Murtaqi Syamsuddin of PLN planning and risk management said the company expected that the tender process for the West Kalimantan–Sarawak transmission could begin this year. The company, he said would team up with Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) in constructing the network. "Temporarily, after the completion of the transmission network, we plan to import power from hydro-power plants in Sarawak." he said. Murtaqi said the power tariff for exports and imports would be determined through business-to-business negotiations with partners, but the finalisation would be subject to approval from the Indonesian government. The agreement for the West Kalimantan–Sarawak power transmission was signed in July last year. The transmission line will span 122km from Bengkayang in West Kalimantan to Mambong in Sarawak, east Malaysia. The South Sumatera–Peninsular Malaysia transmission line would be used to export electricity, he said. South Sumatera was rich in coal, therefore, there would be ample opportunity to export power to other countries, he said adding that discussions on the South Sumatera–Malaysia transmission were still at a very early stage. The daily said that according to PLN's electricity procurement business plans (RUPTL), the transmission will be ready for commercial operations in 2017. -- BERNAMA