Indonesian state electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has secured additional coal shipments for its electricity system in Java after supply issues caused a series of power outages, its chief told members of parliament on Thursday.
PLN was forced to impose a rolling power blackout earlier this month due to shortages of medium-grade coal for power plants serving the island of Java, chief executive Darmawan Prasodjo said in a hearing at parliament.
He said PLN has been granted extra coal supplies after the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister assigned some mining firms to deliver additional volumes.
In July, PLN will get 1.8 million metric tons of coal with 4,500 kcal-grade or higher, on top of its contracted deliveries, Darmawan said. From August to December, PLN will get an additional 3 million tons per month.
"With this, the issue of electricity supply that took place in Java has been corrected and the rolling blackouts have ended," he said.
PLN also retrofitted two power generator units at its Suralaya plant to be able to use lower-grade coal and will make similar adaptations at other power plants, Darmawan added.