[Kabar-indonesia] PLN signs deal on 1,200 MW power plant

[Joyo at aol.com]

Indonesia's PLN signs deal on 1,200 MW power plant

JAKARTA, November 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia state electricity
firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) signed a preliminary
deal with U.S. energy firm AES Corp. , Japanese trading firm
Sojitz and local firm PT Triaryani to build a 1,200 megawatt
coal-fired power plant, the energy minister said on
Wednesday.

The cost of the project, to be located in South Sumatra, in
the west of the archipelago, is estimated at about $1.5
billion.

"PLN will have further negotiation on the electricity price
that will be supplied by those companies," Purnomo
Yusgiantoro, the energy minister, told reporters after the
signing ceremony during the country's second major
infrastructure meeting in Jakarta.

He did not say when the plant was due to start production.

Indonesia, struggling to cope with electricity shortages,
has said it will speed up the construction of power plants
to add 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity between 2006
and 2010, as the world's fourth most populous country tries
to catch up with rising electricity demand.

Indonesian officials have said domestic electricity demand
is growing around 10 percent a year.

PLN operates 24,000 MW of generation capacity currently, but
most of its plants are ageing, so daily output is far below
capacity.

Indonesia, Asia's only OPEC member, is tapping alternative
sources of energy such as coal and natural gas for power
generation to cut down on consumption of expensive crude oil
as its own reserves dwindle.

Some 30 percent of the plants use oil products such as
diesel and fuel oil. Coal and natural gas dominate in the
others.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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