PLN Collaborates With Vale Indonesia To Provide Electricity At The IGP Construction Of The Pomalaa Block

Photo: Doc. Antara

PT PLN (Persero) strengthens the cooperation of PT Vale Indonesia Tbk (PT Vale) in an effort to provide electric power in the construction phase of the Indonesia Growth Project (IGP) in the Pomalaa Block.

This commitment was realized through the signing of a memorandum of understanding of the 1000 kVA (MW) Electricity Sale and Purchase Agreement (PJBTL) or 1 Mega Watt (MW) for the Construction Phase of the Pomalaa Block, Kolaka, Sunday.

The manager of UP3 Kendari Eko Ridwan explained that downstreaming as implemented through the Pomalaa IGP is a strategic project that is in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution Article 33 (paragraph) 3.

"PT Vale's smelter industry is one of the strategic projects in downstreaming the mineral industry in Indonesia. For this reason, PLN is ready to support and fully commit to supplying the power needed by the company within the mining scope, in order to accelerate industrial downstreaming," said Ridwan, as quoted by Antara, Monday, June 12.

PLN ensures that the electricity needs of smelter entrepreneurs will be met according to the agreed schedule and commitment. Not only to be able to support the smelter industry on a high voltage customer scale, but also smelter or mining companies that are still in the construction process.

"Similarly, operating requires electricity supply within a medium voltage range of 20 KV," he said.

He also said that electricity distributed for PT Vale's needs in the Pomalaa Block comes from renewable energy.

By looking at the industrial development in the Sulawesi region, especially Southeast Sulawesi, PLN UP3 Kendari is ready to provide reliable electricity supply.

PT Vale Indonesia Growth Project (IGP) Project Director Pomalaa Mohammad Rifai said the provision of 1 MW of electricity through the signing of a memorandum of understanding is a very important phase in the process of developing the Pomalaa Block.

"The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is a form of the Company's commitment to always be present to accelerate projects in Pomalaa, especially since the Pomalaa Block development area is included in the National Strategic Project (PSN)," he said.

He also added that the signing was one of the important steps in providing changes towards the realization of strategic projects in Pomalaa.

The Pomalaa IGP project consists of high-pressure Acid Leach (HPAL)-based nickel mining and processing. The annual production target of this project reaches 120 thousand metric tons per year, and will produce the final product in the form of nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP). MHP is one of the components needed in the preparation of electric vehicle batteries.

"The big step starts from a small step, this 1 MW is the first step towards our main goal of operating in Pomalaa," he said.

In addition, the Kendari UP3 electricity system is now interconnected with the Southern Sulawesi subsystem with a capacity of 1,894,078 MW, and until now it is still a surplus of 270.51 MW.

UP3 Kendari, especially the Kolaka ULP, is currently supplied by 2 Main Substations (GI), namely GI Kolaka (30 MVA) and GI Wolo (30 MVA). In addition, the Kolaka system is also supported by a new renewable energy plant, namely the Sabilambo Micro Hydro Power Plant (PLTMH) with a capacity of 2 MW. GI Kolaka will supply electricity to the current location of PT Vale Pomalaa.

Currently, apart from PT Vale, several similar companies are being processed to get the best quality PT PLN services. We will review all incoming applications and process them so that we can offer some of the best service schemes in terms of electricity.