Inalum refuses to increase power supply to Sumatra

JAKARTA. State-owned aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum) has revealed that it will reject the government’s request to supply additional power to North Sumatra to overcome the province’s power crisis.

In a meeting with the North Sumatra Council on Monday, Inalum Workers Union (SP Inalum) leader Muhammad Ridwan said the government should have made more effort to solve the power crisis in North Sumatra without sacrificing Inalum.

Ridwan added that the current power capacity of Inalum was only sufficient for production. If Inalum were forced to supply power to North Sumatra, he said, production would be interrupted.

“So far, Inalum has supplied 90 megawatts of power to the province. If we’re compelled to supply another 210 MW, production will be cut and Inalum will die,” Ridwan told The Jakarta Post after the meeting.

The central government, through State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini M. Soemarno, said it intended to overcome the power shortage in North Sumatra by commandeering around 210 MW of Inalum’s power for state power company PT PLN.

Residents of North Sumatra have been plagued by rotating blackouts of up to four hours daily, severely disrupting their day-to-day lives. As a result, there are frequent protests against the provincial administration and PLN.

Ridwan acknowledged that all Inalum employees were currently worried by the request from the ministry.

“We are worried because if Inalum supplies power to the province, some employees will have to be laid off as a consequence of the cut in production,” said Ridwan.

Inalum, which was recently acquired by the state, is equipped with hydro-power plants (PLTA) located along the Asahan River, the only river that channels water from Lake Toba to the Strait of Malacca.

The Sigura-Gura and the ladder-type PLTAs have a power output of 286 MW and 317 MW, respectively, and each is equipped with four turbines.

In order to support an increase in aluminum production from 260,000 to 650,000 tons annually, Inalum plans to build a new steam-driven power plant (PLTU) with a capacity of 600 MW in North Sumatra. The project is still in the analysis stage.

    If Inalum supplies power to the province, some employees will have to be laid off as a consequence of the cut in production
    The crisis, is the responsibility of PLN, and not Inalum

SP Inalum deputy leader Ivan Ginting said Inalum’s current power output was only sufficient for production, and Inalum was unable to supply more than the 90 MW it already provided to overcome the province’s power crisis.

The crisis, according to Ivan, is the responsibility of PLN and not Inalum.

In a meeting with Inalum, provincial council commission D head Mustofawiyah expressed support for Inalum’s refusal to supply extra power to PLN.

Separately, North Sumatra PLN general manager Bernadus Sudarmanta expressed regret over Inalum’s stance. According to him, PLN’s request was aimed at resolving the power crisis in North
Sumatra.

“We aren’t asking Inalum to supply free power. PLN will pay for it,” Bernadus told the Post on Monday. (Apriadi Gunawan)