The 700-km transmission line which will cost an estimated US$2 billion will stretch from Bangko in South Sumatra to Bogor in West Java, Nasri Sebayang said here on Thursday.
"We are now preparing tender documents. Hopefully, the tender will be opened in the third quarter of 2011," he said.
He said the construction of the 500-kV transmission line is designed to cater to growing power demand in the country`s most populated island of Java.
So far, there has been a disparity between rising power needs in Java and abundant primary energy sources in Sumatra, South Sumatra in particular, he said.
He said the transmission line will be able to transfer power supplies of up to 3,000 MW from Sumatra to Java.
For its part, a mine mouth thermal power plant with a capacity of 4x600 MW will be built at Bangko as a power source of the transmission line, he said.
The 3,000-MW power capacity is equal to the use of 15 million tons of coal per year, he said.
"We can imagine how efficient the project will be," he said.
Quoting the results of a project study, he said transmitting electrical power from Sumatra to Java is much cheaper than transporting coal from Sumatra to Java for thermal power plants.
In addition, he said the project will also be able to reduce pollution caused by so many power plants in Java.
He said PLN has received funding commitment from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the construction of the project which will start in 2012. The transmission line is expected to start operating in 2016.
JICA has committed itself to meet 85 percent of investment needs and the remaining 15 percent will come from PLN, he said adding the Japanese loan payable in 30 years with a grace period of 10 years will carry an interest of 0.3 percent per year.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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