Paiton II power station is a 1,220MW coal-fired power station in East Java, Indonesia. It began full commercial operation in late 2000. Three partners make up Jawa Power, which is Paiton ll’s official ownership company. Powergen owns a 35 per cent stake, Siemens own 50 per cent and an Indonesian partner owns the remaining 15 per cent. Powergen also owns the business Powergen Jawa Timur, which has the operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for the station.

The station is a vital element of the local community and in its first year exceeded the level of availability required by the Indonesian public utility PLN.

Health and safety and employment

Powergen Jawa Timur - the station's operations and maintenance division - has been awarded a Golden Flag Award and Certificate of Health and Safety Management. This followed an audit in December 2001 of the station’s safety management systems by PT Sucofindo, an independent auditing body nominated by the Government of Indonesia. The President of Indonesia presented the award at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

The station also gained a RoSPA gold certificate for safety management in 2000.

In 2001, an employee association was formed and a collaborative labour agreement signed with management. Industrial relations and employee welfare issues are now part of the ongoing dialogue with management and a joint forum meets every month.

Community relations

Paiton ll has had a big impact on the local community in East Java and great importance has been given to promoting child education and welfare, adult skills development and community health.

Six schools have been renovated and two more are in progress. More than 500 children have their schooling sponsored, while many others have received basic equipment for their studies. Most recently, 500 new desks and chairs have been made in Paiton village. Currently, we are leading a schools' initiative in Paiton, supported by UNICEF, to introduce a system of open school-based management, to increase local community involvement in running the schools.

Powergen has also supported the establishment of a kindergarten. One special activity is linked to community health and involves training selected children from different schools in different health topics, to take messages back to their schoolmates and give organised feedback. Adult skills' development classes are also organised to enable adults to establish sustainable new businesses that benefit their own communities. An example of this has been the production and marketing of locally made goods.

Earlier this year, the Regent of Probolinggo presented Powergen with a Local Government Award for services to the community. The station’s activities were also recognised by the UK Government last year, when previous station manager Barrie Dingle was awarded the OBE for services to British commercial interests in Indonesia.