BANDUNG, July 28 (EngineeringDaily) -- PT PLN (Persero), the leader of electricity distribution in Indonesia, is heading up a nation-wide movement to improve infrastructure and the accessibility of electricity throughout the country. The primary goal of the company is the development of several power plants in some of the more remote areas on the eastern side of Indonesia.
One such project, a new geothermal power plant planned for Tulehu in Ambon, Maluku Province and initiated in 2013, is now entering the land acquisition phase of construction. The project will require a total investment of US $110 million and will meet the electricity needs for the city of Ambon and the surrounding area.
The Senior Manager of PLN Anah Yahmadi said the company is currently looking to complete land acquisition for drilling geothermal working areas in Tulehu. Once the land is procured, PLN will hold an auction for engineering, procurement, and construction contracts.
PLN originally won the bid for a large section of geothermal working areas in Tulehu on September 11, 1997, with a total area of 1,920 hectares (ha) and the geothermal potential of 100 megawatts (MW). PLN plans to use the land to build geothermal power plants with 2 x 10 MW capacities.
The complex is slated for completion in 2018 or 2019, with construction carried out in several stages. The first phase will commence with construction of a 10 MW unit, followed a year later by a second unit with the same capacity.
In addition to the plant in Tulehu, PLN also plans to increase the capacity of geothermal power plants in Ulumbu in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara Province on the island of Flores. According to Yahmadi, PLN will build on the 10 MW capacity geothermal power plant in Ulumbu in the near future.
In order to support the development in Ulumbu, the company has been conducting a feasibility study on the project. The investment value of the project is estimated at USD $40 million, and the completion date will be set to 2019.
As with the Tulehu project, PLN’s development of this project will proceed gradually. The early stages feature the building of geothermal power plants with a capacity of 5 MW in Ulumbu to be followed with an additional capacity of 5 MW in the next year or two.
As of today, the Ulumbu plant first phase with a capacity of 10 MW is operational, although still at a capacity of 5 MW. The remaining 5 MW capacity is still being finalized. The geothermal wells for the first phase of 5 MW have already been drilled by PLN. Therefore, the required investment will only be used to complete the project, primarily with the building of the electric generator, estimated at Rp 100 billion (USD 8.3 million).
By Ismail Al Anshori
