October 11, 2008

PT Adaro to build a pit head power plant

Antara News reported that coal mining company PT Adaro Indonesia plans to build a mine mouth coal fired power plant with a capacity of 60 MW in South Kalimantan province in cooperation with construction firm PT Makmur Sejahtera Wisesa.
Under the cooperation agreement, PT Adora Indonesia will only supply coal to the power plant while PT Makmur Sejahtera Wisesa will bear all the cost arising from its construction. The area is believed to hold 600 million tonnes of coal deposits.

Mr Y Andriansyah spokesman for PT Adaro Indonesia said that the power plant to be built on 86 hectares of land at Maridu village in Tabalong district is expected to be operational late next year.

Power shortages have forced state electricity company PT PLN to introduce rotary power blackouts in several parts of the province in recent years. To date, there are 2 coal fired power plants with a capacity of 126 MW, 3 hydro power plants with a capacity of 28.50 MW and 29 generators with a capacity of 86.45 MW. In addition, PT PLN also buys around 20 MW of power plants from private power plants to meet increasing demand.