PLTA signifies Indonesia-Malaysia cooperation
Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian President Jokowi lauded the commencement of construction of the Mentarang Main Hydropower Plant – PLTA in Malinau District, North Kalimantan Province, that symbolized the cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia.
“I am very happy because the construction of Mentarang PLTA has begun. I am even more pleased because this is a consortium of Indonesia and Malaysia, showing that we, as allied countries, can work well together,” he stated at the groundbreaking of the Mentarang PLTA in North Kalimantan, Wednesday.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan; Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia; Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung; Premier and Deputy Premier of Sarawak, Head of the Green Industrial Area Consortium in North Kalimantan Boy Thohir; and other related officials also attended the groundbreaking.
“We hope that in the next seven years, it would be completed and provide benefits to Malinau District, North Kalimantan, and to all Indonesian people,” he stated.
According to Jokowi, the PLTA will be integrated with a green industrial area in the Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia (KIPI) area.
“This hydropower plant is in Malinau, while the KIPI is in Bulungan District, which will produce green energy products with low carbon emissions,” he stated.
In addition, the green energy products will come at premium and competitive prices since they use green energy from Mentarang River in Malinau District, Jokowi explained.
The Mentarang Main Hydropower Plant was built by PT Kayan Hydropower Nusantara (PT KHN) on Mentarang River located some 35 kilometers upstream of Malinau City.
The Mentarang PLTA is planned to have a capacity of 1,375 megawatts with the potential of producing nine terawatts of electricity per hour (TWh).
The dam being built is a type of concrete faced rockfill dam (CFRD) designed with a crest height of about 220 meters and a length of some 750 meters.
The dam construction schedule will be completed in some four to five years in stages and will be followed by a reservoir stage to handle water inundation in which a water storage area of around 22,800 hectares at full supply level (FSL) will be created.
Apart from its role in starting the industrialization of hydropower, the energy from the PLTA has the potential to provide a sustainable supply of clean energy for the surrounding community and increase the resilience of electricity supply for the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara in East Kalimantan.
