Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 12 2023

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

with the public backing of Washington.
Grants issued by the United States Trade and
Development Agency (USTDA) have already What the deal will bring
been agreed in order to aid PLN Indonesia If agreed, the site will, reports indicate, even-
Power. tually host a 462-MW facility employing
Funds received will be used to evaluate NuScale SMR technology.
the possibility of construction of a nuclear NuScale Power is a small-scale US firm
power plant (NPP) on the island of Borneo based in the Pacific northwest specialising in
in West Kalimantan, near the border with designing SMRs.
Malaysia. Speaking of the possibility of a firm that
The pressurised water reactor (PWR) has long struggled to secure sufficient funding
to be deployed at the site is a VOYGR plant extending its reach into Southeast Asia, John
equipped with all necessary steam generation Hopkins, NuScale President and CEO, said:
functions and subsequent heat exchange pro- “In addition to providing our innovative small
cess inside one small-scale unit with a capac- modular reactor technology to countries like
ity of 77 MW. Indonesia that are seeking reliable, zero-car-
It is the first such SMR given an official bon baseload power, NuScale continues to
thumbs up by the US Nuclear Regulatory Com- support the US government in strengthening
mission. When finally deployed it will be in relationships abroad through clean energy.
either a 4, 6 or 12-module configuration. NuScale VOYGR SMR power plants are poised
All applicable assessments including cost, for the energy transition and will reinforce
risk and impact on the local environment will be energy security for years to come.”
carried out as in any other pre-nuclear deploy- It is an eventuality local power chief Edwin
ment check, although no immediate details Nugraha Putra cannot wait for.
were released on where responsibility lies for “After 78 years of waiting, now is the time
these checks. to achieve self-sufficiency in emission-free
“Indonesia has demonstrated a strong inter- green energy,” the president of Indonesia
est in partnering with the United States on its Power said.
energy transition and identifying innovative He added: “through co-operation on
and ground-breaking US technology to advance technical assistance for the development of a
its goals,” said Enoh Ebong, the director of the small modular reactor, Indonesia Power, the
USTDA. National Research and Innovation Agency of
The “USTDA has a unique, catalytic role Indonesia, and NuScale, with support from
in advancing the development of some of the USTDA, the Coordinating Ministry for Eco-
most ambitious and noteworthy infrastructure nomic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia
projects in Indonesia and emerging economies and PT PLN, have opened the gates to a new
around the globe” the Nigerian American attor- era of nuclear energy for electricity to light up
ney added. Indonesia”™

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