State electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to speed up the construction of thermal power plants in Sumatra to cope with possible power shortages.
“We have set ourselves the target of minimizing power shortages in the dry season next year by constructing thermal power plants,” PT PLN President Director Dahlan Iskan said after addressing a seminar on entrepreneurship here on Tuesday.
The thermal power plants would be built in six different areas in southern Sumatra, such as Belimbing, Tarahan and Jambi, he said.
The projects were part of nine power plants with a combined capacity of 400 megawatts, he said.
He said the construction of the six thermal power plants was expected to be completed next year. As such, there would be no power shortages in the areas next year, he said.
To cope with power shortages in Sumatra, PLN would also relocate its gas-fueled generators from Java to Sumatra, he said.
In principle, PLN was committed to fulfilling power demand from the public, he said.
The seminar was organized by the Palembang city administration in cooperation with the entrepreneurship center of Ciputra University.
