GE Power delivers flowing electricity to Indonesia’s diving hotspot, Gorontalo

The four units for the Gorontalo province will provide 100MW of power and will be used forgrid stability and expected power demand increases from the people of Sulawesi.

Locals say the sunset in the Indonesianprovince of Gorontalo is nothing shortof breathtaking, but for a significantnumber of the province’s households, night
time is a burden. This is because Gorontalo’selectrification ratio stood at 77.58%, meaningabout 60 households in the locale did not haveaccess to electricity at all, according to theMinistry of Energy and Mineral Resources inOctober 2015. Across Indonesia today, around15% of the country’s 250 million residentsdon’t have access to electricity - about 37million people. This rate is the lowest in theregion.

To remedy this, Indonesian president Joko Widodo launched a program designed to provide an additional 35 gigawatts (GW) of power capacity by 2019 to cope with electricity shortages, and has found an ideal technological partner in GE Power. According to Fajar Akbar, Sales Director, Gas Power Systems, GE Power Indonesia, the TM2500 generator sets that are used in Gorontalo include GE’s LM2500 gas turbine, one of the most installed and successful gas turbines in its class with more than 75 million operating hours.

A unique electrification plan

“Dual-fuel capability allows initial operationwith diesel and eventual conversion to naturalgas. The mobility of the units allows futuredeployment at alternative locations,” he says.“Also, these can be converted to combinedcycle operation at a later date for more powerat greater efficiency.”He adds that TM2500s have been a leadingtechnology for fast and emergency powerapplications over the past 10 years, with morethan 200 units delivered globally and less thanhalf the installation time of other similarlysizedpower solution. As the world’s largestarchipelago with more than 15,000 islands,Indonesia poses a unique challenge when itcomes to its electricity demand.

It requires smaller and more localised powergeneration solutions, such is the case withGorontalo. “Altogether, the four units for theGorontalo province will provide 100 megawatts(MW) of power and will be used for gridstability and expected power demand increasesfrom the people of Sulawesi in the comingyears,” Akbar says.

Generating reliable power in a short timeframe

Since Indonesia’s state-owned electricityprovider Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) set atarget to finish the project in only six months,Akbar says a solution that is easy to deployand able to generate reliable power quicklyis the key to achieve that goal. This is wherethe TM2500 perfectly fits. “The TM2500generator set, which is trailer mounted and canbe installed faster than traditional power plants,is ideally suited to meet Gorontalo’s growthplans,” he says. “Each TM2500 generatorset can produce more than 25 MW of poweroutput in the hot Indonesian climate—enoughto power the equivalent of approximately25,000 homes,” he adds.The gas-fired power plant has improved theprovince’s electrification ratio to 84.4%. “Webelieve this improvement will further fostereconomic growth in the region and improve the
quality of life of the people in Gorontalo,” headds.

Finishing on time

Akbar says the largest challenge GE Powerand the rest of the team had to overcomewas the relatively short time-frame. “Wewere committed to deliver at the soonesttime possible, by delivering the ready stockgas turbines as soon as the contract waseffective, providing all the necessary supportinginstruments (mechanical and electrical BOP)built in modular concept, and providing thebest and most efficient manpower,” Akbar says.

The power plant is currently located in MaleoVillage, Paguat District, Pohuwato Regency,and has been operating since March 2016 –the total project was completed in six months.The power from the plant will be distributedthrough Gardu Induk (GI) Marisa to Gorontaloand North Sulawesi power system.As a result, Akbar says GE Power, with thesupport and collaboration of PLN and PP,successfully completed the project in a thirdof the time of regular open-cycle power plantdevelopment. “We are proud to work withthe Indonesian government to provide ourbest mobile power solution, the TM2500aeroderivative gas turbine generator set, to theGorontalo province,” he says.

Looking ahead

But GE Power’s mission to power the rest ofthe archipelago doesn’t stop in Gorontalo’sbeautiful shores as bigger plans forelectrification are in the pipeline. “Based onthe success of 100 MW Gorontalo MobilePower Plant, we are now working with PLNBatam to develop 500 MW in more locationsin Indonesia. In this 500 MW Fast Powerproject, we’re not only bringing our mobilepower plant technology, TM2500, but also acomplete power plant solutions (transmission and distribution) and financing from GE.,” hesays. “In Indonesia, GE is committed to supportthe government’s plan to add 35GW of powercapacity by 2019.”