PLN invests Rp 10b in Tanjung Api-Api power

PALEMBANG. State power firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is set to invest Rp 10 billion (US$ 837,311) in power facilities to support economic activities in the Tanjung Api-Api Port area, South Sumatra.

The money is needed to install 70 kilometers of cable lines from Palembang to the port and power facilities to transmit 60 megawatts to support the port’s activities.

General manager of the PLN office overseeing South Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu and Bangka Belitung operations, Paranai Suhasfan, said on Thursday the company was coordinating with the South Sumatra administration for the project, which is scheduled to begin this month and run until next year.

“We discussed which areas we could pass our power lines through so there would be no change in direction in the future,” he said, adding that the areas had been acquired to make way for the project. The investment, said Paranai, was made only to support activities at the port.

The company, he said, would move further in building a power plant for the Tanjung Api-Api special economic zone when power demand increased tremendously.

The Tanjung Api-Api special economic zone is set to officially operate following the issuance of a presidential decree on the establishment of the zone, said South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin.