The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Government of Indonesia will build a cross-border power transmission line linking West Kalimantan in Indonesia with Sarawak in Malaysia, bringing hydroelectricity to West Kalimantan and adding 8,000 households to its power grid. The 83-km cross-border high-voltage transmission line with a capacity of 230 MW will allow PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN), the Indonesian state-owned electricity company, which currently uses oil for power generation in West Kalimantan at an average price US$0.25/kWh, to import electricity from the hydropower plant in Sarawak while cutting power costs to US$0.18/kWh.
The ADB will loan US$49.5m and administer a US$49.5m loan provided by the French development agency, as well as a US$2m grant provided by the Multi-Donor Clean Energy Fund under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility.
ADB is currently preparing a second loan project to finance the transmission line on the Malaysia side. The construction should be completed by December 2014.