PLN Makes PLTU Suralaya Operations Safe During Christmas And New Year Holidays

Illustration of PLTU Suralaya. (Photo: Doc. PLN)

PT PLN (Persero) ensures that the Suralaya steam power plant (PLTU) operations in Cilegon, Banten, during the Christmas and New Year (Nataru) 2023 holiday period are safe.

This readiness is because the primary energy supply has been fulfilled for up to 30 days of operation (HOP).

During his visit to PLTU Suralaya, Sunday, December 25, the Minister of Energy for Resources and Minerals (ESDM), Arifin Tasrif, represented by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Rida Mulyana, ensured that the supply of energy for the community in the Nataru moment was guaranteed.

According to Rida, PLTU Suralaya is especially one of the backbones of the Java Madura and Bali electricity system (Jamali).

The reliability of primary energy supply for power generation operations is one of the keys to the safety of current electricity availability.

"Signifikan perannya untuk sistem Jamali jadi kita pastikan rantai pasoknya mulai dari energi primer sampai siapan operatornya hingga penyediaan listrik ke masyarakat bisa kita pastikan tercapai," ujar Rida.

Also present at the visit were Acting Director General of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Dadan Kusdiana, Director of Generation of PLN Adi Lumakso and President Director of PLN Indonesia Power Edwin Nugraha Putra.

On a different occasion, President Director of PT PLN (Persero) Darmawan Prasodjo said he was optimistic that the generator with a total capacity of 3,400 megawatts (MW) could operate to meet electricity needs in the Jamali system during Nataru 2023.

With this capacity, PLTU Suralaya supplies around 12 percent of the electricity needs in the Jamali system, so this PLTU has a vital role for Jamali's electricity.

"Last year, the condition of coal supply in Suralaya was a bit critical, this year it was very good, and became the best HOP in history. This achievement is the fruit of collaboration between the Government, PLN and all stakeholders," said Darmawan.

In Nataru 2022, the condition of coal supply at PLTU Suralaya was at a crisis point with a HOP of less than 7 days.

Meanwhile, in Nataru 2023, coal supply reached 30 HOPs.

According to Darmawan, this achievement is the result of PLN's joint efforts with the Government and stakeholders in the domestic coal industry, always synergizing and coordinating to make efforts to ensure the availability of primary energy is met.

In terms of supervision, since the beginning of 2022, PLN has made changes to the paradigm in monitoring and controlling coal supply.

Initially, he said, supervision only focused on loading points or estimated time of the region (ETA) has now become focused on loading points.

Supervision steps are carried out not only through physical in the field but also by integrating a digital monitoring system between the PLN system and the system at the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

This system provides information on target loading and integrated with systems at the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources which records the realization of loading from each supplier.

"With a system like this, if there is a potential for supply failure due to the availability of coal and its transportation fleet, it will be detectable early. Not only that, corrective action can be carried out as early as possible so that supply certainty can be better maintained," concluded Darmawan.