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An agreement was signed last Friday for the supply of fuel to
a new coal-fired steam powered power plant worth US$96.99 million in
Tanjung Kasam, Batam.
Under the agreement, PT Kideco Jaya Agung, a Korean company that has a
coal mine in East Kalimantan, will supply low-calorie sub-bituminous
coal to state-power firm PT PLN's Tanjung Kasam power project in Batam.
The project will have two generators, with each having a designed total
generating capacity of 55 megawatts (MW), and with the first of the two
generators slated to start operating in March 2009 and the second
within the following three months.
PLN Batam currently operates a number of power plants having a total
capacity of 320 MW, about 31 percent more than its capacity in 2005.
Ery Ifyandri, the president director of PLN Batam, said after signing
the agreement with Kideco's president director, Kim Sung Kook, during a
ceremony in Jakarta, that Kideco would supply 360,000 tons of coal
containing 4,700-4,800 kilocalories per kilogram per annum for 15 years.
The ceremony also saw the signing of agreements between PT Tanjung
Kasam (TJK) Power, the operator of the project, and PT Solusi Energi
System Consult on engineering and construction supervision, and between
PT Solusi Energi Sistem Consult and PPLS Management Sendirian Berhad.,
a subsidiary of Sarawak Electricity Supply Company Berhad (SESCO) of
Malaysia, on technical cooperation.
President Director of TJK Power Binarto Bekti Mahardjana said that the
cooperation with PT Solusi Energi Sistem Consult was so as to ensure
that the construction of the two power units would be finished on time.
The director general for electricity and energy utilization at the
Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, J. Purwono, who attended the
signing ceremony, said the construction schedule had to be tight so as
to cope with the annual 15 percent rise in electricity demand in Batam.
"We estimate that we will need an additional installed capacity of
between 260 and 280 MW by 2009," Ery explained.
PLN Batam also plans to build two other coal-fired power plants with a
total investment of about $100 million, in line with its plan to boost
coal usage in the power sector.
The two new power plants will be located in Bintan and have an
installed capacity of 12 Megawatts each.
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