An Indonesian court has ruled that the environmental permit granted for the development of a coal-fired power plant is unlawful.

The 1000 MW extension to the Cirebon plant in Indonesia is being developed by PT Cirebon Energi Prasarana and was recently awarded a financing package by a consortium of lenders led by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).

The Bandung Administrative Court ruled on 19 April that the plan to expand the original 660 MW Cirebon power plant violates local spatial planning law. It has ordered the environmental permit for the project to be revoked.

The developer, a consortium of Marubeni, Korea Midland Power, Samtam and PT Indika Energy, was given 14 days to appeal the ruling. 

The ruling was made in response to a claim by local environmental groups that the extension project was not in line with local planning laws because it would occupy more than one sub-district. 

On April 18, a day before the ruling, JBIC and other banks – including Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), ING Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Mizuho Bank – committed $1.74 billion in finance to the project.