Indonesia to build coal-fired power plant

Jakarta

INDONESIA will begin building a huge coal-fired power plant next year, government officials said on Thursday, as South-east Asia's biggest economy looks to keep pace with soaring electricity demand and avert a power crisis.

The 5,000 MW power plant will be built in central Java and generate an initial 2,000 MW when it begins operations in 2018, Indroyono Soesilo, head of the new coordinating ministry for maritime affairs, told reporters. Completion of the entire project is likely to take seven years, he added.