Yasa asserted “We (Kadin) have been working hard to promote Bali, but the anxiety over the minimum electricity supply has eliminated almost 50 percent of the chance to invest here.”
Information provided by the Bali Investment Coordinating Board reveals that in the initial quarter of 2009, Bali’s investment plan only touched IDR53 billion ($5.12 million) as against the investment plan of the initial quarter of 2008 which was IDR6.3 trillion.
According to Agung Mastika, PT PLN’s spokesman for its Bali branch, Bali has only 562 megawatts (MW) of electricity power. Power demand can touch 490 MW during peak hours, with only 72 MW remaining as reserve supply.
Mastika stated that PT PLN has proposed to add additional electricity power stations in Bali. From 2008, the firm has been building a coal-fired power station in Celukan Bawang, Buleleng, to produce at least 390 MW. The project is expected to become operational by the end of 2010.
Wayan Ramantha, an economist from the Udayana University in Denpasar, stated that the power supply deficiency was not the only hindering factors in luring local and foreign investment.
Ramantha said “The quality of infrastructures and public facilities in Bali is still very low.”
