A coal-fired power plant built on Bali’s north coast has been accused of providing inadequate compensation for land acquisition, causing damage to local livelihoods and health, and harming the environment on land and at sea, according to a report published by Greenpeace in 2018.

There were also suspicions on the involvement of illegal labour from China in constructing and operating the plant.

In January 2018, three local residents launched a legal action to stop the plant’s expansion, but the case was rejected by the Denpasar State Administrative Court. The decision was upheld on appeal at the Surabaya High Court. An appeal in the Supreme Court was also rejected in July 2019.

The plant was built by PT General Energy Bali, which is majority owned by China Huadian Engineering, (Singapore-based) Merryline International Pte. Ltd, and PT General Energy Indonesia. The latter’s shares are now controlled by PT Singa Energy Indonesia.

In response to Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s request for comments, China Huadian Engineering said in a statement that their power plant in Bali strictly complies with the relevant legal regulations in Indonesia and international standards, and that it has been supplying safe, stable and quality electricity to facilitate the regional economic development in Bali and its surrounding area. Their full response is available below (in Chinese only).