POWER August 2014 - 11

tal Buenos Aires and the 600-MW Embalse
plant in Cordoba. About 50% of the total
comes from natural gas, 25% from hydro,
15% from oil, and only about 2% from
coal. Following commercial operation of
Atucha 2 later this year, the country's
nuclear capacity will jump 74%.
Argentina's government approved Atucha
2, which was based on the Siemens
PHWR design for the 1974-commissioned
Atucha 1 unit, in 1979. Construction began
in 1981, but work was suspended for
lack of funds in 1994 when the project
was about 80% complete.
Nucleoeléctrica Argentina was set up
in 1995 to take over the country's nuclear
power plants and resume construction
of Atucha 2. However, no progress was
made until 2006, when the government
announced a $3.5 billion plan to support
the country's nuclear plants and build new
ones. It required the completion of Atucha
2 (Figure 3) and the extension of the
operating lifetimes of Atucha 1 and the
1983-commissioned Embalse plant. The
life of the Embalse CANDU-6 reactor will
be extended by 25 years under a contract
signed in August 2011. That project is expected
to last five years and cost about
$1.37 billion.
The government's 2006 plan also called
for the construction of a 27-MWe prototype
of the CAREM reactor, a modular
simplified pressurized water reactor with
integral steam generators. First concrete
for the CAREM reactor was poured this
February. If successful, the research reactor
could spawn larger versions (100 MW
or 200 MW) for construction in Argentina's
Formosa province by 2021.
Indonesia Eyes Tightening
Coal Exports
Indonesia, the world's leading exporter
of thermal coal, in June again suggested
it could limit coal production and further
tighten its control on exports to protect
supply for domestic power plants.
However, the new rules aren't expected
until after the country's presidential
election in July, and possibly not until
after a new government is inaugurated
in October.
About 70% of Indonesia's coal production
is exported, but the government projects
that domestic demand for coal-fired
power plants will rise by 13% by 2015.
The new rules could come as a ministerial
regulation on mines and shipments,
though how effective that will be remains
to be determined, experts say. As Reuters
reported in June, many of the country's
August 2014 | POWER
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coal mines, such as Bumi Resources and
Toba Bara Sejahtera, are owned by politically
connected figures.
Benchmark prices for Asian coal have
dropped 16% to $72.38 a metric ton (mt)
as of June this year, trading at its lowest
levels since late 2009. One reason cited
for depressed prices is the rampant illegal
mining and exports that flood the market.
About 50 million to 60 million mt of coal
is illegally exported from Indonesia each
year (total exports were 383 million mt in
2012, according to the World Coal Association).
The government, which levies royalties
of 3% to 13.5% on exports of coal
produced in the country, has plans to build
14 dedicated coal terminals in the islands
of Kalimantan and Sumatra to tighten supervision
and curb illegal exports.
However, the falling prices have already
begun forcing smaller coal producers in
the country out of business, further slashing
output, observers note. That could
have repercussions for the countries to
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POWER August 2014

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