Going For The Gold

MAN Diesel & Turbo will deliver and install four MAN 18V32/40 gen-sets for a power plant of the Indonesian energy company PT Sumberdaya Sewatama (Sewatama).

The power plant will supply one of the world’s largest gold mines, Martabe, with up to 24 MW of electric power. The four-stroke engines will eliminate an acute energy bottleneck and ensure a stable supply to cover the requirements of the mine in Batang Toru province in the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, MAN said.

The Martabe Gold Mine is managed and operated by Singapore-based PT Agincourt Resources. With an area of 2500 km², Martabe has an annual extraction capacity of approximately 4.5 million tonnes of gold and silver ore. The energy-intensive processes in extracting and treating the valuable raw materials require a reliable and permanent power supply. The state electricity supplier Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) cannot guarantee this supply on account of the remote location in the Indonesian mountains and a patchy transport grid.

“Our engines solve energy bottlenecks on location and secure an economically viable, stable power supply for industrial plants also in remote locations, such as here in the Indonesian mountains,” said Massimo Casal, sales manager of MAN Diesel & Turbo in Indonesia.

Indonesia has over 250 million inhabitants and is the largest economic region in south-east Asia. With an annual growth in gross domestic product of four to five per cent, power requirements are also rising. In 2014, the government, therefore, announced a comprehensive expansion program of the national electricity network. The available power is planned to increase by 35 GW.

“The current development on the Indonesian energy market is of particular interest to us. Owing to the geographical structure – Indonesia is the largest island state in the world – many small and decentralized supply grids are required. With its wide-ranging experience of island power plants, MAN Diesel & Turbo has the right solution both for industrial applications and for local network operators,” Casal said.

MAN Diesel & Turbo currently employs 20 staff in Indonesia and in recent years has delivered engines with a total output of 158 MW to the country.