14 DAY TRIAL // In 2014, Indonesia is to begin work on its largest coal power plant ever. Once building activities come to an end, the coal plant's facilities will cover some 200 hectares of land.
Those in charge of designing and building it maintain that, when working at full capacity, the plant will feed about 2,000 megawatt in Indonesia's national grid.
The construction of this new plant might be good news to those working in the energy sector, yet environmentalists and people living close to where this plant will be erected are anything but happy about this project. Mongabay reports that, as several green-oriented groups have pointed out, the decision to give the green light to this project and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to curb Indonesia's carbon emissions do not see eye to eye.
They also say that, judging by the plant's proposed location (i.e. Batang, Central Java), construction activities will negatively affect marine protected areas within its proximity.
“This attitude shows the reluctance of the government to stop the country’s addiction to coal, which is so high. Hatta Rajasa’s persistence to develop carbon-intensive power plants contradicts President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia by 26 percent in the year 2020,” Greenpeace-Indonesia argues.
The same source informs us that some locals living in Batang, Central Java are now being bullied into giving up their lands in favor of the company in charge of building this coal power plant.
“Hundreds of thousands of residents from the five villages are still committed to oppose PLTU Batang [i.e. the name of this plant]. We maintain our ancestral land and we don't want there to be environmental destruction in our area,” one local told the press.
It will cost about $4 million (€3.09 million) to build this coal power plant. Because of its size and energy generating capacity, the plant is expected to be one of the largest in Southeast Asia.