JAKARTA. The debates of the dismissal of the two articles of the Law on Electricity by Constitutional Court continue. Recently, issues are circulating that if the power plant projects are terminated, PLN (the State Owned Electricity Company) will be reusing the diesel power plants (PLTDs).

Head of the Corporate Communication Unit of PLN I Made Suprateka said that the dismissal of the two articles of the Law on Electricity will not distract the processes of power plants constructions, which aim at replacing the diesel power plants. “The projects will continue,” he told KONTAN, Monday (19/12).

Made said that the contributions of PLTD will be reduced gradually if the constructions of new power plants are running in an effectively.

“The contribution may be reduced by 5%, as the constructions of transition networks in Sumatra and other regions that have diesel power plants are running well. Therefore, the diesel power plants will be replaced,” Made said.

The number of diesel power plants has been reduced from 7.89% of total power plants in 2015 to 6.46% of the total power plants. “Most of the diesel s is supplied by Pertamina (State Owned Oil Company),” he said.

Made said, recently diesel power plants are only being used in isolated regions, which do not have PLN’s electricity network. Most of the diesel power plants in those regions are operated by independent power producer (IPP). However, the number is not significant, as in average each diesel power plant has a capacity of 10MW-20MW.

According to Made, the operations of diesel power plants have to be reduced. Recently, PLN tends to replcae the diesel power plants with coal power plants or electric steam power plants, which have lower costs. “The composition of diesel power plants have to be reduced to ensure efficiency and the provisions of cheap electricity,” Made said.

President Director of PLN Sofyan Basir said that the one-price fuel policy has driven efficiency. PLN plans to acquire some diesel power plants owned by IPP.

Electricity observer Fabby Tumiwa said that the dismissal of the two articles cannot automatically abort the role of private investors in power plant constructions. “State is still controlling through PLN,” he said. (Muhammad Farid/Translator)

Editor: Sanny Cicilia