"The President had asked that the power shortage in North Sumatra be resolved as soon as possible. The power shortage should be overcome by accelerating the development of steam power plants (PLTU)," Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said here on Wednesday.
He said the efforts to overcome the electricity supply shortage were to develop the Belawan PLTU. "We hope in the short term, we will be able to provide 300 MW from the PLTU. We will also accelerate the development of the Pangkalan Susu PLTU, with a capacity of 200 MW," he added.
The minister explained that to resolve the shortage in North Sumatra, there was also a proposal for additional power supplies from PT Inalum, initially 90 MW up to 130 MW, yet this was still under study.
Meanwhile, PLNs director Nur Pamudji said transmission from Pangkalan Susu to Binjai had been connected and on April 4 it could be used to distribute electricity. However, it had to be tested first.
"Hopefully, on April 4, it will already have electricity. But the power supply will flow first from Binjai to Pangkalan Susu so that it can be tested in Binjai," the PLN director said.
Nur Pamudji said effective supply of power from power plants in Pangkalan Susu can be achieved only in October, because a series of tests needed to be conducted first.
Therefore, the PLNs short-term solution is to add supply from PLTU Nagan, which is now in the final testing stage.
(A014/INE/H-YH)
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(A014/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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