Taking Advantage Of Technological Innovation, PLN Boss Claims Electricity Price From PLTB Is Only 5 Sen

PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The President Director of PT PLN (Persero) claims that the price of electricity from New Renewable Energy (EBT) is getting cheaper.

He gave an example, the price of electricity from the Bayu Power Plant (PLTB) from the previous 11 cents has now dropped to only 5 cents per kilo watt hour (KWh).

"With innovation, the cost of electricity coming from renewable energy has decreased. In the past, when it was about cheap energy, it was dirty, clean energy was expensive. Now with innovation it is allign. You are talking about clean energy: cheap. This is thanks to innovation," Darmawan said in his remarks at the Road to PLN Investment Days 2024 at the Mulia Senayan Hotel, Wednesday, March 6.

Darmawan continued, prior to the innovation, the PLTB mill steel tower was built as high as 70 meters with a power generated only 7MW per pole. Meanwhile, currently, the mill tower will be built as high as 140 meters with an electric capacity generated up to 2 times.

"We re-map whether the PLTB can be built on the North Coast of Java. If it is 70 meters high, the wind speed is only 4.5 m/second so that the factor capacity is only 18-19 percent which is commercially unprepared for feasible," Darmo explained.

He added, with the latest technology with a pole height of 140 meters, the wind speed increased to 6.5 to 7 meters per second so that the capacity factor increased to 30-32 percent.

"This means that the potential of PLTB with old technology will be difficult to implement on the north coast of Java. But with new technology, it can be placed in the former Javanese Pantura if it is 70m high, then the specific location where the wind speed is very high," he said.

This is in line with the statement of the Acting Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE), Jisman P. Hutajulu who said that Indonesia has the potential for jumbo from PLTB in the northern region of Java and the southern region of Sumatra Island.

With these two areas, he said, the potential for PLTB RI is estimated at 2 gigawatt (GW).

"So the government has to see how this is and I think the reliability of the system will be prioritized. We have asked the Minister (Arifin Tasrif) to increase the flexibility of the PLN subsystem and system by using a smart grid or building a fastest form generation," he said.