VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government is preparing to renegotiate a 35 thousand-megawatt, or 35 Gigawatt, power plant project which has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government remains committed to implementing the mega project for which contracts have been signed, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Arifin Tasrif, said here on Thursday.

"Of course, we must fulfill the commitment to the 35 GW project whose contracts have been signed. For instance, we are trying to renegotiate the project. All sides have been affected by COVID-19," he said.

Arifin said demand for electrical power fell during the pandemic. The low demand for power also had an impact on electricity sales of state-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), he added.

He expressed the hope that demand for electrical power will recover this year.

To push power demand, he said, the government will adopt a number of strategies, including encouraging the use of battery-based electrical motor vehicles, both four-wheeled and two-wheeled, and the use of electrical stoves.

"We must improve the use of our transmissions to supply electrical power to regions that are currently running short of electrical power," he said.

The government will also scrap the use of diesel-fueled electricity generators.

"Admittedly, we must expedite the installation of transmission infrastructure so that we can replace high electricity supply cost in several regions with low electricity supply cost and the total cost will decline accordingly," he said.

As of August, 2020, the realized operational capacity of the 35 thousand-MW power plant project reached 24 percent, or 8,400 MW. In addition to the mega project, there is a carry-over of seven thousand MW from the previous program, the minister informed.

Both the 35 thousand MW power plants and seven thousand MW power plants are scheduled for completion in 2023. (antaranews)