Gov’t Will Not Develop Nuclear Power Plant, President Jokowi Says

By Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation     Date 2 Juni 2016
Category: News
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President Jokowi,responds to reporters’ questions on Wednesday (1/6), in an department store in Banda Aceh

Indonesia has many energy resources and besides coal, the country also has renewable, geothermal, hydropower, wave power, wind power, and solar cells energies; therefore, Indonesia does not need yet to develop a nuclear power plant (PTLN), President Jokowi said.

“We are blessed with abundant resources, thus we do not need to develop a PLTN yet. There are indeed several studies on the preparation of PLTN, but we have not decided yet,” President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo told the reporters after the inauguration of Arun Gas Engine Power Plant (PLTMG) in Desa Meuria Paloh, Lhokseumawe, Aceh, on Thursday (2/6).

In the meantime, after the inauguration of Air Anyir Steam-fuelled Power Plant (PLTU) in Bangka Belitung Province on Wednesday (1/6), President Jokowi also told reporters that the Government is still discussing the advantages and disadvantages of developing a PLTN, considering that Indonesia still has other power generator solutions.

“Microhydro and geothermal energies with the expected capacity of 29,000 Mega Watt (MW), as well as wind and wave power energies have not been developed yet. However, it doesn’t matter because I already ordered related institutions to calculate it,” the President said.

Asked whether nuclear power plants will be built in the near future or not, the President answered with a “No”.

From the total 35,000 MW capacity in the realization of construction of the power plants, the state-owned Electricity Company PLN has purchased a total of 17,000 MW last year, while, up until now, the groundbreaking of 8,000 MW capacity of power plants is done.

“The construction of the remaining power plants will be conducted by the PLN. The cooperation between investors and the PLN will accelerate the development of power plants. However, people does not know it,” the President added.

The acceleration in the development of power plants is needed. Building a power plant that uses coal takes 4 to 5 years to finish, including the ones in Batang and Tanjung Jati. Therefore, to meet the electricity needs of the people in regencies, cities, and provinces, the only way is by building a power plant that uses gas.

“The construction only took 3 months to finish, and it took 6 months to assemble the machines. It is really fast. The acceleration costs more money indeed but it is necessary for industries, hotels, and the people,” the President concluded. (DNK/FID/RHD/ES)(RAS/EP/YM/Naster)

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