TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - It`s been a long time that the issue of electricity project brokers cannot be addressed yet.
There have been too many brokers in an electricity project. The state is completely fooled.
The impact is that electricity tariff is getting higher and higher.
If President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, during the inauguration of two geothermal power plants in Minahasa and Lampung on Tuesday last week complained about the country’s electricity rate that is far higher than that in other countries, it is not news.
So far, we have not been really tough in the battle against electricity project brokers.
Their method has always been the same. They join the tender of power plant projects. However, after they won the tended, the contract is up for trade.
The brokers do not have the money and the experience to build power plants. So, the chain of the construction of a power plan becomes longer.
Even the matter of accelerating the availability of land involves many people. The with the construction of renewed energy power plant such as micro-hydro power plants and the development of geothermal power plants.
Clearly, this impedes the national electrification program initiated by President Joko Widodo.
As we know, he has the ambition to realize the 35,00 megawatt electricity megaproject and is targeted to be completed in 2019.
From 2014 until 2019, the government, along with state-owned electricity company PLN and private sectors – plants to build 109 power plants, consisting of 25 projects undertaken by state-owned electricity company PT PLN and 74 projects by the private sectors.
Based on PLN data, until the first quarter of 2016, the capacity of power plants that have been built reach only 397 MW, or still 1.1 percent from the total target.
The success of geothermal power plant in Lahendong, Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, that has new units, namely Unit 5 and Unit 6, as well as Ulubelu geothermal power plant in Lampung, with Unit 3, both of which were inaugurated by Jokowi, still has not met the target determined this year.
Indeed, PLN continues to improve its management. The tender, for example, has been made transparent though an online auction. However, it does not mean that the brokers play their game.
Data from investors who become the winners of the auction must be re-checked. We must not let any unclear investors be involved.
Loose supervision has made tender of PLN’s project only become the black market of permits.
All brokers raise the price, competing in the bid/offer, but the projects eventually get stagnant.
We can see how pathetic the progress of 34 power plants the become parts of the Fast Track Program 10,000 MW stage I whose facilities are damaged because of long negligence.
Therefore, the government has to formulate regional governments that regulate land acquisition for power plant projects as a legal umbrella that can impose firm sanctions for brokers.
If the winner of a tender has signed the power purchase agreement (PPA) but there is no electricity project development within 6 months, PLN can revoke the concession of the power plant.
If Jokowi wants to materialize the dream of low electricity rate and the whole Indonesia can be free from blackouts in 2019, he must eradicate these electricity project brokers.
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