Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia \u2014 The Criminal Investigation Department\u2019s\nDirectorate of Certain Crimes (Dittipidter) has named five people as\nsuspects over the widespread power outage that affected Batam and Bintan\non Monday, 12 October 2026.<\/p>\n
The electrical-system disruption at the Sei Harapan substation began\nwith a bang at 06.28 WIB and led to a total interruption of power supply\nat 06.36 WIB.<\/p>\n
Brigadier General Moh. Irhamni, director of Dittipidter, said the\ndisruption began with a bang caused by a short circuit in Transformer 1.\nHe said the five suspects\u2014four PT PLN Batam staff members and one\ncontractor\u2014were named on the basis of the investigation and sufficient\nevidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the investigation and the availability of sufficient\nevidence, and after a case review, investigators have named five people\nas suspects in this case. Four PT PLN Batam staff members, identified by\nthe initials RB, ZR, DA and AWD, are suspected of negligence, along with\none external party, a contractor identified by the initials AEP,\u201d\nIrhamni said in an official statement, quoted on Wednesday, 21 October\n2026.<\/p>\n
The sequence of events began when an operator at the Sei Harapan\nsubstation heard a bang at 06.28 WIB, originating from a short circuit\nin Transformer 1. Eight minutes later, at 06.36 WIB, the electrical\nsystem in Batam and Bintan suffered a total blackout, directly affecting\nresidents\u2019 activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday, 12 October 2026, at around 06.28.59 WIB, an explosion was\nheard at the Sei Harapan substation in Batam. Based on the initial\nexamination, the bang is suspected to have been associated with a short\ncircuit in Transformer 1,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Power restoration was carried out in stages using black-start\nprocedures from 08.00 WIB, under the direction of the dispatcher at the\nBatam Command Centre in Baloi. During an inspection of the site on 14\nOctober 2026, investigators found a melted area on Transformer 1\u2019s 150\nkV bushing and a live monkey with burn injuries near the\ninstallation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPT PLN Batam\u2019s initial account was that at around 11.32 WIB on 12\nOctober 2026, signs of melting were found on the 150 kV bushing of\nTransformer 1. At the same time, PLN staff also found a live monkey near\nTransformer 1 with burn injuries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The further investigation found that the protection circuit had\nfailed to isolate the fault. It also found that wildlife-protection\nequipment had been disabled and not reinstated after construction work\non Transformer 3 in April 2026. After examining 25 witnesses, seizing\nevidence and estimating customer compensation at Rp57,315,057,160,\ninvestigators formally advanced the case to the investigation stage\nthrough a police report dated 16 October 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe focus of the investigation is whether electricity-safety\nobligations were not met, how this related to the disruption at the\ninstallation, and the resulting power cut and its impact on the public,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n
PLN Batam responds<\/strong><\/p>\n Earlier, PLN Batam president director Kwin Fo said the blackout began\nwith a flashover at a transformer at the Sei Harapan substation. The\ncircuit breaker (CB), which should have isolated the fault, did not open\nas it should have, allowing the disruption to spread to the main\n150-kilovolt (kV) transmission system.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on the technical investigation, the disruption began with a\nflashover at a transformer at the Sei Harapan substation. The circuit\nbreaker (CB), which should have isolated the fault, did not open as it\nshould have, allowing the disruption to spread to the main 150-kilovolt\n(kV) transmission system,\u201d he said, according to a company statement\nquoted on Monday, 19 October 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThe disruption caused a power plant at Tanjung Uncang, with capacity\nof about 220 megawatts (MW), to disconnect from the system. The loss of\na large amount of supply caused other power plants to become unbalanced\nand disconnect as well, leading to a widespread outage at 06.37 WIB,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n He explained that PLN Batam immediately inspected and isolated the\nfault, then gradually rebuilt the electricity system. By 22.00 WIB on\nMonday, around 60% of customers in Batam had had their power\nrestored.<\/p>\n By 01.00 WIB on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, power had been restored to\nalmost all Batam customers, although work to bring several generating\nunits back online continued.<\/p>\n Power supply to Bintan was fully restored on Wednesday, 14 October\n2026, at 18.30 WIB. The transfer of electricity through the undersea\ncable was conducted in stages once the Batam system was stable and had\nsufficient reserve capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cRestoration to Bintan was based purely on technical considerations,\nnot on different service priorities. We had to ensure that Batam\u2019s\nsystem was stable enough before transferring power to avoid triggering\nanother widespread disruption,\u201d Kwin Fo said.<\/p>\n He acknowledged that the explanation could only be provided after the\nentire PLN Batam team had spent three days prioritising restoration of\nthe electricity system to ensure that power supply to the public\nreturned to normal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe offer our sincerest apologies to all our customers and the\npublic. From the outset, the entire PLN Batam team worked day and night\nwith the primary focus of restoring the Batam-Bintan electricity\nsystem,\u201d Kwin Fo said.<\/p>",
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