The company signed a deal with North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi on August26 to expedite the issuance of land and administrative permits for the plant,which will power is the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and KualaTanjung Industrial Zone.
“This deal marks the first step to beginning construction,” Hanlimchairman Paul Han R Lee.
Construction will begin in January 2021 at the latest, Edysaid. The plant will be built in three equal stages of 1,600 MW each and isslated for full-capacity operations before Edy’s term ends on September 5,2023.
He noted that the plant’s power would be directly distributed to the two zones,a decision that circumvents the legally sanctioned distribution monopoly ofelectricity giant PLN.
The state-owned firm has been unable to guarantee the distribution of theplant’s power as it had not finished its latest electricity procurement plan(RUPTL), Edy explained, adding that Hanlim would have moved the project toVietnam unless development began soon.
The North Sumatra governor expects the plant’s operations to attract 250investors, which would, in turn, create more job opportunities for the locals.The province has 345,000 unemployed residents, according to latest StatisticsIndonesia (BPS) data.
Indonesia is banking on several SEZs and industrial zones to stoke the growthof domestic industries, which has seen its share of gross domestic product(GDP) steadily decline over the past few decades./.