Plans to build a hydropower plant (PLTA) with a capacity of 443 megawatts (MW) in the Leuser ecosystem zone in Gayo Lues regency, Aceh province, may be scrapped after the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) triumphed in a lawsuit seeking to prevent construction.

The group filed the lawsuit last year to oppose Aceh Governor Zaini Abdullah's decision to issue a forest area utilization permit, which would allow foreign capital investor PT Kamirzu to build the Tampur hydropower plant in the Leuser ecosystem. The ecosystem is a UNESCO world heritage site that covers thousands of hectares of protected forests throughout Aceh and North Sumatra.