REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Rizal Ramli, said the 35 thousand megawatt (MW) power project is unlikely to be completed within five years.

"After we discussed it, we realized that it is impossible for us to complete the construction of the 35 thousand MW power project in five years. It is likely to be achieved only in 10 years," the minister told the press after attending a coordination meeting on electricity on Monday.

Ramli chaired the coordination meeting, which was also attended by the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the Land Agency, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, Power Director General, Jarman, President Director of state-owned electricity company PLN, Sofyan Basir, representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Nuclear Agency, the Ministry of Forestry and Environment and the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology.

Minister Ramli said that if the construction of the power project is completed within five years, there will be power excess of about 21 thousand MW.

"PLN will experience a capacity over its peak burden until 2019, which according to our calculation amounts to 74 thousand MW, or about 21,331 MW capacity will remain idle," he said.

He added that based on the regulations, the electricity company is required to purchase 72 percent of the existing power supplies, regardless of whether they will be used or not.

"If the power project is realized in 2019, it will exceed demand, while PLN is required to purchase electricity from private companies of at least 10.763 billion U.S. dollars per annum," he said.

Ramli also said that the likeliest projects to be completed in the coming five years are those with a combined capacity of 16 thousand to 18 thousand MW. This is the likeliest possibility to supply the peak burden in 2019.

"After we discussed it deeply, we found that the most feasible is the 16 thousand to 18 thousand MW power project. This capacity is actually already very large," he stated.

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