Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Lombok Peaker Steam Gas Engine Power Plant in West Nusa Tenggara with a capacity of 136 megawatts (MW) will be the first facility of its kind in Indonesia.

A statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources quoted by Indonesia Window here on Wednesday mentioned that the construction of the most environmentally friendly and efficient power plant will be completed by mid-2020.

Ministry’s spokesperson Agung Pribadi explained that the power plant development process had been in its final phase.

The power plant, located in Tanjung Karang, Mataram, becomes the first Combined Cycle plant in Indonesia that uses a gas engine for the combustion process.

"The Lombok Peaker’s combustion process is different from those applied by other plants. This power plant uses a gas engine, not a gas turbine," Agung pointed out.

The power plant is expected to quickly generate electricity during peak loads with a computerized system, he said, adding that "it is approximately about five minutes".

Process

Meanwhile, the State-owned Electricity Company (PLN) Manager for the Nusa Tenggara Development Parent Unit, Yuyun Mimbar Saputra, explained that the Lombok Peaker does not use coal as its sources, but steam generated from a gas engine.

The process of this plant, he added, was similar to that used on motorbikes or cars, which is spark ignition combustion. The difference is that the gas engine in a generator does not require ignition because the fuel used is already in the form of gas.

Furthermore, heat energy and steam from the combustion gases from combustion in the gas engine are used to produce steam as a working fluid in the turbine by heating water in HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator).

Dry saturated steam from HRSG will be used to turn the blade (propeller) which then drives the turbine and generator, and finally becomes electricity.

"The collaboration of the two systems and combustion process known as 'Combined Cycle' that makes the plant more efficient," Yuyun explained.

The Lombok Peaker Steam Gas Engine Power Plant is also an environmentally friendly generator as the combustion flue gas coming out of the chimney is monitored by the Continuous Emission Monitoring System.

With this system, such exhausted emissions as sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), total particulate matter and concentrations can be monitored on an ongoing basis.

The aim is to ensure that emissions are still under the threshold.

The heat exchange system at the Lombok Peaker also uses seawater which is processed and circulates in a closed cycle.

"Therefore, it is noiseless caused by the radiator which functions as a cooling system from the power plant," Yuyun explained.

Capacity

The Lombok Peaker consists of 13 gas engine generating units which are divided into two blocks.

Each unit has a capacity of 9.76 MW. So that the total power generated is 126.88 MW. Meanwhile, the other 10 MW is obtained from the utilization of heat steam which is processed by the steam power plant system.

"The steam power plant does not use coal, but steam generated from the gas engine," Yuyun said.

The government hoped that the Lombok Peaker can support the tourism sector, especially in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone.

Reporting by Indonesia Window