Java warned of iminent blackouts<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Banjarnegara\/Semarang\/Bandung<\/p>\n
Disruptions in power supplies are imminent in West Java, Central
\nJava and Banten amid the prolonged dry season, which has caused
\nwater shortages in the provinces.<\/p>\n
The drought has made the amount of water in three large dams
\n-- Kedungombo, Gajahmungkur and Tulis -- in Central Java drop
\nfrom the normal levels.<\/p>\n
Hydropower plants at the three dams, which supply electricity
\nto the provinces, had to stop operations due to the insufficient
\namount of water.<\/p>\n
However, power supplies remain safe providing no interruptions
\noccur in the Java-Bali power grid, which is interconnected to
\nother power plants.<\/p>\n
\"If hydropower plants fail due to low water levels in the
\ndams, we still have plants that generate electricity from other
\nsources that are able to replace them,\" said Embut Subianto, a
\nspokesman for state electricity company PT PLN in Central Java.<\/p>\n
Apart from that, each of the three hydropower plants only
\nproduce 100 megawatts per day, he said.<\/p>\n
\"So there is no significant correlation between the failure of
\nthe three dams during the current dry season with power
\nsupplies,\" added Mulyono, general manager of PT Indonesia Power
\nbased in Banjarnegara, Central Java.<\/p>\n
However, PLN has asked people in Central Java to be prepared
\nfor power blackouts at anytime if consumer load becomes too
\nheavy.<\/p>\n
In West Java, PLN has begun to use power plants owned by
\nprivate factories to help with power supplies in the province.<\/p>\n
Agus Pranoto, PLN's distribution chief for West Java and
\nBanten provinces, said the decrease in water levels in Saguling,
\nJatiluhur and Cirata dams had forced his company to use private
\npower plants.<\/p>\n
The dams have reduced electricity production by 1,780
\nmegawatts to only 1,200 megawatts per day, he said in Bandung,
\nWest Java, on Friday after signing a memorandum of understanding
\nwith steel company PT Krakatau Steel in Banten.<\/p>\n
\"The hydropower plants at the three dams can still operate,
\nbut we are declaring it an emergency situation,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
Under the memorandum, Krakatau Steel agrees to lend its power
\nplant to PLN to produce electricity for parts of Banten at night,
\nwhen it normally does not operate.<\/p>\n
The company's power plant is capable of producing electricity
\nfor PLN's approximately 150,000 customers with a household
\ncapacity of between 450 watts and 900 watts in Banten.<\/p>\n
Agus said PLN was also exploring the possibility of using the
\npower plant of pulp and paper company PT Indah Kiat.<\/p>\n
Last week, the government said water shortages had become
\nserious on Java island, including in the capital city, which
\ncould threaten power supplies in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\"We have found that the drought in a number of areas on the
\nisland is pretty bad,\" State Minister of the Environment Nabiel
\nMakarim said on Monday.<\/p>\n
An official of the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional
\nInfrastructure, Roestam Syarief, earlier said that water supplies
\nfrom Jatiluhur Dam in West Java to Jakarta's state tap water firm
\nPDAM had decreased to 60 percent of the normal amount.<\/p>\n
The water level in Jatiluhur Dam was 84.5 meters as of Aug. 5,
\ndown from the usual 94.19 meters.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/java-warned-of-iminent-blackouts-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}