The Kayan hydropower plant developer, PT Kayan Hydro Energy (KHE), has secured a cooperation with Japanese Sumitomo Corp. to develop a 9,000MW (megaWatts) hydropower plant, the largest in Southeast Asia.
“Sumitomo has indeed become a partner, but I will explain the details later,” Kayan’s Operational Director Khaeroni said in Tanjung Selor, North Kalimantan, on August 27, 2022. The hydropower plant project will need an investment of US$17 billion.
The hydropower plant will be integrated with the Industrial Estate and Port Tanah Kuning-Mangkupadi. PT Indonesia Strategis Industri (ISI) is the company that manages the industrial estate and PT Pelabuhan Internasional Indonesia (PII) is the company in charge of developing the international port that supports the industrial estate.
Development progress
Currently, Khaeroni said the company was engaged in infrastructure development, including road construction to the Kayan 1 dam, which is 12 kilometers away.
“PT Kayan Hydro Energy has been operating continuously for 11 years. We do everything from surveying the location and designing to applying for tens of permits. If you asked the progress on the road construction, it has reached 30% until now,” he explained.
KHE developed the Kayan Cascade hydropower plant by using an area along the Kayan riverbank which has five dams, each of which includes five to six units of power plant turbines. Kayan Cascade hydropower plant has a first phase capacity of 900 MW, a second phase capacity of 1,200 MW, a third and fourth phase capacity of 1,800 MW each and a fifth phase capacity of 3,300 MW.
The company engages local contractors and workers as part of the project. People living in the area surrounding the project will benefit from the involvement of neighborhood people. “To develop the projects, we intentionally use local contractors and labor, as it is paramount that they benefit from them, and not other people from other regions,” Khaeroni said.
Industrial estates
KHE will provide electricity to an Integrated Green Economic Zone developed by sister company PT Indonesia Strategis Industri and an international seaport constructed by sister company PT Pelabuhan Internasional Indonesia.
KHE Chief Executive Officer Andrew Suryali said the integrated green economic zone already had seven companies as tenants. Most of the companies are in the supply chain for electric vehicles, such as PT Alum Ina Indonesia, which manufactures aluminum metal. The company intends to develop and operate an aluminum smelter in the area.
As part of its partnership with Shandong Xinhua Technology Co., PT Nickel Industri Indonesia plans to develop ferronickel smelters using Rotary Kin Electric Furnace (RKEF) with six production lines or 7 million tons per year within the integrated green economic zones.
A second company is PT General Battery Indonesia. In addition to producing high-capacity rechargeable batteries, the company will also develop power reserves and electric vehicles, which are essential components of the high technology industry worldwide.
“PT Indonesia Emobil Industri will develop electric vehicles, including electric cars and buses, using all of these products,” said Suryali.
