On the same day as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remarks earlier this week over delays to the Central Java Power Plant, the Japan Times reported on a 12-month postponement of the financing deadline for the plant:
Japan Times, Oct. 7, 2013 — Electric Power Development Co., Itochu Corp. and Indonesia’s PT Adaro Energy have further delayed the schedule for securing financing for their $4 billion coal-fired power plant in Indonesia.
The group pushed back the deadline by a year to next October after it faced delays acquiring land, Junichiro Hoshino, a Tokyo-based spokesman at Electric Power Development, or J-Power, said in a recent interview. They have acquired more than 80 percent of land needed for the 2,000-megawatt power plant in Batang, Central Java, he said.
The companies last year postponed construction of the power plant, which was originally scheduled to start last October, amid environmental assessments and local opposition. Further delays will be a setback for Indonesia’s plans to get more of its domestic power from lower-quality coal grades. The Batang plant, which would be Indonesia’s biggest independent electricity supplier, is part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s strategy to increase exports of technology to improve the efficiency of power from coal.