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Against the backdrop of Japan’s nuclear-plant crisis and Indonesia’s vast energy resources, state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara believes discussion on nuclear power can be delayed for another generation.  

“Commercially, Indonesia does not need nuclear power plants yet,” Dahlan Iskan, PLN’s president director, said in an exclusive interview with the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.  

He said nuclear facilities were more expensive than coal and gas plants and that there were enough  energy options on the table. His statement came on the heels of efforts by the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) to develop nuclear energy in Indonesia.

Dahlan said the country had enough coal, geothermal, natural gas and hydrothermal sources to fuel conventional power plants.  

For example, there is enough geothermal energy to generate 10,000 megawatts of power while hydroelectric plants — which are  safer and cheaper to build — can generate the same amount.  

Hydroelectric plants need $3 million per MW and three years to build, Dahlan said.  

Nuclear-power plants, on the other hand, require 15 years to complete and pose a greater threat to public safety.  

“That is much longer than building a hydro-power plant,” Dahlan said on Wednesday. “So why don’t we just focus on the existing sources of power?”  

The PLN chief did, however, acknowledge that it would be good for Indonesia to begin a feasibility study for the possible use of nuclear energy because it would need additional sources of fuel if electricity demand continued to rise at 9 percent yearly.  

In 30 years, the PLN estimates, Indonesia will require 250,000 MW of electricity, compared with the country’s current capacity of about 30,000 MW.  

“Fossil fuel reserves in Indonesia may not be enough to support this demand, and at that time, we may need nuclear power,” Dahlan said. “But that is up to the next generation to decide.”  

Dahlan said he had been offered the technology to build nuclear-power plants in a joint venture between Japanese utility company Mitsubshi Heavy Industries and the French government-owned Areva.  

“They said that they can provide superior technology to build nuclear-power plants which  can resist earthquakes and terror attacks,” he said.  

“But no deal or follow-up has been agreed upon,” he added.  

Only 65 percent of the country’s 240 million people have access to electricity which means more than one-third of the population lives without power.  

The government plans to raise electricity access to 91 percent by 2019, so PLN will need to add 55,484 MW of power over the next seven years.  

Officials from government-owned Batan signed a memorandum of understanding in October last year with the Bangka-Belitung provincial government to build two large nuclear-power plants worth $54 billion.