Indonesia's PLN gets 20 engines for 8 new power plants

Ten of these wil be installed in three plants.

Indonesia's state-run electricity supplier, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), has contracted MAN Diesel & Turbo to deliver a total of 20 MAN 51/60DF engines.

Ten of these engines will be installed in three power plants for which the company will take on EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) responsibilities. "This contract has a total value of over 100 million Euros and we are extremely grateful for the trust and confidence the Indonesian government has placed in us," says Wayne Jones OBE, Chief Sales Officer at MAN Diesel & Turbo.

"Indonesia has become one of the most important growth markets in Southeast Asia if not the world, developing the national electricity supply is therefore absolutely essential. Our gas-powered engines ensure the reliable, flexible and low-emission generation of energy even in remote locations."

Ten of the engines, which will be delivered as gensets together with alternators, are to power five new power plants, each with a capacity of 15 or 20 MW.

An Indonesian consortium of companies is responsible for their construction and they are to be put into operation in mid-2018. The engines are to be fuelled first by diesel and later by natural gas. Part of the arrangement is also a long-term service agreement with MAN PrimeServ, the worldwide after-sales brand of MAN Diesel & Turbo, who will maintain the new plants for five years.

A further ten engines will be installed in three power plants for which MAN Diesel & Turbo, along with the Indonesian company Wijaya Karya (Persero) tbk (WIKA), will take EPC responsibility. The two companies will divide the engineering, procurement and construction tasks between them.

While WIKA is taking on the construction of the power plants and overall project management, MAN Diesel & Turbo is responsible for the delivery and commissioning of the engines and alternators, and also for the technical equipment, electrical systems and design of the power houses.

A formalised five-year full operation and maintenance agreement is also part of the package.

Two of the power plants, each with a capacity of 50 MW, will be built in Bima on Sumbawa, an island in the province of West Nusa Tenggara. The third will be built in Maumere on the island of East Nusa Tenggara. All three plants are to run at base-load operation and soon be powered with gas.

"The Indonesian government led by Joko Widodo is pushing development of the electricity supply. They want to create 35 GW of new generation capacity by 2019," explains Martin Höhler, Head of Sales for power plants in the Asia-Pacific region at MAN Diesel & Turbo. "Closing the gap in the supply of electrical energy on the country's over 900 inhabited islands can only be achieved by decentralised units. We offer the ideal product and solution for this."

With a population of around 255 million and a growth rate of almost 5 percent, Indonesia is the largest economic area in Southeast Asia. The stable growth is simultaneously driving up the island state's energy demand which, according to the estimates, is rising by more than 8 percent a year.

This is why a predicted expansion of 70 GW of generation capacity will be needed by 2024."Supplying fuel is often a challenge, not least because of the small-scale structure of the country with its over 13,000 islands," adds Massimo Casal, sales manager for MAN Diesel & Turbo in Indonesia. "Indonesia has a wealth of gas but many places lack the infrastructure necessary to supply it. Our dual fuel engines offer the operative flexibility needed and are therefore optimally suited to this task."