Muara Karang power plant to be expanded

State owned electricity company PLN, through its subsidiary PT Pembangkit Jawa-Bali, has filed a proposal to the government to expand the generating capacity of two power plants, Muara Karang and Muara Tawar power plants, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

The total investment needed for the repowering of the two power plants would reach about US$1.38 billion. The expansion of the Muara Karang plant will cost some US$480 million, while that of the Muara Tawar plant would require funding of at least US$900 million.

But PLN?s president director Widiono Suwondho said that the government would likely only approve the empowering of the Muara Karang plant due to the lack of funds. He said that based on the proposal, the expansion of the Muara Karang would be realized this year.

"For the repowering of the Muara Tawar plant, we have not set its schedule," he was quoted as saying. He added that the electricity company had proposed a soft loan from Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) to finance the project. "It will be difficult for JBIC to finance two projects at the same time." (*)