At the end of 2015, PLN's total generating capacity (produced by a many different plants across Indonesia) was estimated at around 34,262 MW.
[12] Main indicators have been increasing along with overall economic growth in Indonesia although the growth of revenue per unit sold (Rp/kWh) has been slow: Source: Indonesian Statistics Bureau, Statistik Indonesia (annual publication: various years), Jakarta, and Statistik PLN (annual publication; various years), Jakarta.
(b) Includes wholesale electricity purchases by PLN from independent power producers (who had a total combined capacity of around 4,200 MW in 2011) and resold to consumers.
The Indonesian Government, and the senior management of PLN, are officially committed to ongoing reforms designed to improve the efficiency of operations of the electricity supply sector in Indonesia.
However, the overall reform process is often slow, hampered by the fact that the environment within which the state-owned PLN operates is closely regulated and often politicised.
Supply is more reliable in Java because the grid is relatively well-developed compared to the situation in the Outer Islands (such as Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan) where most areas are serviced by localised systems often powered by small diesel plants.
There was, for example, a particularly severe power outage in 2005 which reportedly affected around 100 million people across Java and Bali for over five hours.
[24] In recent years, PLN has been moving to tighten up on problems of non-payment of bills as well as theft.
Apart from internal revenue flows, PLN relies on large government subsidies to support operations and, especially, capital expenditure.
[1] In recent years, as economic conditions in Indonesia have improved following the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98, PLN has also been able to undertake significantly increased borrowings through bond issues.
In November 2011, for example, PLN issued $1 billion of debt at reasonable market prices (10 years at 5.5% coupon value).
[28] In October 2012 it was reported that PLN planned to issue 30-year USD bonds which had been graded BB by Standard and Poor's rating agency.
The soft loan was provided for a total period of 15 years with a 5-year grace period for capital payments at a relatively low interest rate of 5.25% per annum [30] In July 2021, the Minister of Government State-owned enterprises of Indonesia, Erick Thohir, announced that PLN had a Rp 500 trillion debt equivalent to US$34.9 billion.
The revelation of PLN's Rp 500 trillion debt sparked controversy as many considered the company may have earned a large sum of profit due to the number of people staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in an increase in electricity usage and its payment dues.
Financing flows for the capital expenditures were forecast as follows:[39] PLN has plans to build a significant number of coal mine-mouth power plants in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Between these sites, a 40 km 500 kV submarine cable would connect Ketapang in Lampung and Salira in Banten.
In mid-2012, PLN officials noted that 13 geothermal plants across Indonesia were 'stuck in exploration stages' and likely to miss development deadlines.
A range of practical problems often caused problems—in some cases, initial drilling had failed to find wells with satisfactory yields of energy; in other cases, problems with local infrastructure (such as poor roads) and obtaining permits from local officials and forestry agencies had caused delays.
96 locations across the country with a total capacity of 12,800 MW would be developed 60 percent by PLN, while the rest would be offered to independent power producers.