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WorldBank
warns of looming power crisis
(Source: Jakarta Post Jakarta Indonesia 23. January 2003 )
Indonesia is
likely to experience a power crisis in 2004 unless new power investments are
brought in, the World Bank has warned. The World Bank said in its latest
economic assessment report on Indonesia that a power shortage was a clear
and present danger for the country.
The report,
revealed to the media last week, is to be presented at the Consultative
Group on Indonesia (CGI) donors meeting this week in Bali.
The bank said a
power crisis could be avoided if the financial condition of state
electricity company PT PLN was improved, to allow new investments in the
power sector.
PLN s finances
have deteriorated since 1997 when the regional economical crisis first hit
the country, with accumulated losses amounting to IDR 45 trillion (US$ 5.05
billion), it said.
The bank said
the decision to increase electricity rates every quarter, introduced two
years ago, was an appropriate move to help restore the financial soundness
of PLN.
PLN has raised
electricity rates by an average of 6 percent every three month since 2001 so
that by 2005 it could reach the commercial rate level of 7 U.S. cents per
kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2005. The current rate is around 5.24 cents per kWh
after PLN raised its rates earlier this month. But many people objected to
the recent hike, which coincided with an increase in fuel prices and
telephone charges, forcing the government to review the move and indicating
that the government might delay the hike. The World Bank also said PLN
should carry out financial restructuring and efficiency measures as part of
efforts to restore the ailing company.
PLN needs
around $ 28,5 billion in new investments up to 2010 to develop power
generation, transmission and distribution facilities. The World Bank said
that without the investments, PLN could not meet the fast rising demand for
electricity, thus creating a power shortage. The bank estimated that the
available power capacity in Indonesia has been and will be flat from 2001 to
2004 at the approximate level of 18,700 megawatts (MW) due to the absence of
new electricity investments since 1997. But the supply figure will be
outnumbered by rising demand, which is projected to jump sharply from 16,400
MW in 2001 to around 18,000 MW in 2004.
The bank said
that although existing power capacity in the Java-Bali network system, which
accounts for over 75 percent of PLN s generating capacity, was still larger
that the demand during peak hours, the actual amount of power distributed to
customers was barely adequate. It happens due to the loss of electricity
power for the transmission networks, regular maintenance and electricity
power reserves which are needed to ensure the operation of the electricity
system, it said. Elsewhere, the bank said that some 20 outer islands power
systems were already showing signs of strains during peak hours, and posed a
great challenge for PLN. PLN has been forced to restrict its power
generating unit use, when the generating units are taken out for maintenance
or suffer unscheduled outages, the bank said. |
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10,86 - 10,86
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COMMERCIAL
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