The Vice President made the statement while denying the outcome of Monday's talks, where it was reportedly decided to reduce the capacity from 35 thousand MW to 18 thousand MW only.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the capacity target of the power project, proposed to be built in 2016, will remain as earlier planned at 35 thousand megawatts (MW).

The Vice President made the statement while denying the outcome of Monday's talks, where it was reportedly decided to reduce the capacity from 35 thousand MW to 18 thousand MW only.

"That is not true. I have checked it with the President Director of state-owned electricity company PLN (Sofyan Basir). There was no such talk about it (the capacity being cut). Who says it was reduced? Who decided it? Can the Coordinating Minister (Rizal Ramli) change a decision made by the President?" Kalla asked at his office on Tuesday.

He was responding to a statement made by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Rizal Ramli, who had said that the highest possible target for electricity projects during the coming five years would be between 16 thousand and 18 thousand MW.

"(Rizal Ramli) should not make such a comment. If we have made a decision, it is to maintain capacity building at that (35 thousand MW)," the Vice President said.

Ramli had said on Monday that the 35 thousand megawatt (MW) power project is unlikely to be completed within five years.

"After we discussed it, we realized that it is impossible for us to complete the construction of the 35 thousand MW power project in five years. It is likely to be achieved only in 10 years,"

Ramli also said that the likeliest projects to be completed in the coming five years are those with a combined capacity of 16 thousand to 18 thousand MW, which would support the peak electricity burden in 2019.

"After we discussed it in detail, we found that the most feasible is the 16 thousand to 18 thousand MW power project. This capacity is actually already very large," he had stated.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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