PLN demand for coal to soar next year as power output rises

State electricity company PT PLN will need more coal next year as it seeks to generate more power through new plants operated by its subsidiary PT Indonesia Power, an official said Tuesday.

Indonesia Power president director Tony Agung said the increase - from 13 million tons of coal this year to 19 million next year - was due to the running of the three newly constructed geothermal power plants located at Labuan, Pelabuhan Ratu, and Suralaya, all in West Java, as part of PLN's 10,000-megawatt (MW) power program to meet the electricity demand in Java and Bali. The company would continue boosting the utilization of the alternative energy.  It needs about 3 million tons of coal for every 1,000 MW of additional power capacity

Besides the three plants, Indonesia Power, one of the largest electricity power generating companies in the country, operates five other power plants - at Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, at Kamojang and Saguling in West Java, Mrica and Semarang in Central Java, Perak in East Java, and Bali, with a total capacity of 8,888 MW. 

Data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry shows Indonesia has total reserves of coal of 104.7 million tons. The country's geothermal capacity is 27,510 MW, or about 40 percent of the world's geothermal capacity. 

However, the great potential is nowhere near fully utilized domestically, while 70 percent of the country's coal is earmarked for export. 

Young Entrepreneurs' Association (Hipmi) chairman Eric Aksa urged the government to speed up coal production for domestic use, saying it would help the private sector survive during the global economic crisis, because coal had "competitive advantages". The authorities should change their paradigm concerning the use of coal as a revenue booster. We should now treat it as a factor to boost the national economy. China and India had taken the approach of prioritizing domestic demand.

Source: The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 03/25/2009 1:09 PM | Business 

Bukit Asam aims to save $3m with start of new power plants

Publicly listed coal mining firm PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) expects to save around US$3 million of annual energy costs once the planned new power plants starts to operate, the firm's president director says. 

"We'll be able to save around $3 million because the power plants (in South Sumatra) will use our own coal as the source of energy. The construction of the 3 x 10 MW steam-powered power plants (PLTU) would commence in April and be finished in two years. 

PTBA signed on Thursday an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract worth around US$41 million with a Chinese Overseas consortium and local construction firm PT Weltes Energi Nusantara to build power plants in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatera. Our internal cash stands at Rp 3 trillion ($249 million), enough to fund the construction of the power plants. The constructions of the new power plants, PTBA would no longer rely on state electricity company PT PLN for power. 

The company has been using 23 megawatts of electricity from the PLN, while on the other hand, the South Sumatra province has been lacking electricity. Thus, after the power plants are up and running, PTBA will redirect the PLN power to meet the needs of South Sumatra for electricity, he added. 

The country's energy resources are dominated by coal, which provides about 56 percent of power generation, while oil has fallen to around 15 percent, gas about 20 percent, and other sources 9 percent In the future, PTBA will build other power plants with capacities of 2 x 8 MW in Tarahan, Lampung province. The power plants in Tarahan are still subject to feasibility studies. PTBA will be able to supply its needs for energy independently within four years. The company expected an overall revenue increase for this year of about 20 percent. 

Last year, the company sold 12.8 million tons of coal up from 10.1 million tons a year earlier, resulting in 2008 profits of between Rp 1.7 and Rp 1.8 trillion. Profits had reached Rp 760.2 billion in 2007. Indonesia's total proven reserves of coal are estimated at 18.7 billion tons, mostly located in East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and Sumatra, while total potential coal reserves are estimated at up to 105 billion tons.