Rotating power blackouts<\/p>\n
Official warnings of rolling power blackouts in Java and Bali
\nover the next two weeks, due to a cut of only about 350 megawatts
\n(MW) from two power plants in Jakarta, strengthens the great
\nconcern among businesspeople about an impending electricity
\ncrisis in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The state electricity company (PLN) warned last week that
\nrolling blackouts might have to be imposed because of tie-in work
\non gas pipelines from BP Plc's Offshore Northwest Java field to
\nthe Muara Karang and Tanjung Priok power plants in Jakarta, which
\nwould cut power supply by around 350 MW. This raises many
\ntroublesome questions.<\/p>\n
The technical reasons cited for the supply reduction seems
\nreasonable enough. However, the need for rolling blackouts during
\nthe peak-load period from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., simply because of a
\n350-MW cut in supply, is rather baffling.<\/p>\n
What, then, is the meaning of the Java-Bali interconnected
\nelectricity system? Doesn't it mean that a supply shortfall in
\nJakarta can be covered by power from other plants in Java through
\nthe Java-Bali grid? If this cannot be done, then it means that
\nthe total electricity capacity of the system must be way below
\ndemand.<\/p>\n
PLN explained that total demand during peak hours in Java and
\nBali is around 14,800 MW. This means that total capacity in the
\nJava-Bali system is less than 15,500 MW, while a minimum reserve
\nmargin of 35 percent is required to avert power-supply cuts
\nduring the peak-load hours.<\/p>\n
Hence, the total capacity of the Java-Bali grid should be at
\nleast 20,000 MW. A reserve capacity less than this level could
\neasily plunge Java into darkness during peak hours. This is, we
\nthink, what may well happen over the next two weeks, unless
\nconsumers respond to PLN's appeal to reduce their electricity
\nusage during peak hours to offset the 350-MW supply cut.<\/p>\n
Both energy analysts and PLN warned as early as 2000 of a
\nlooming power supply disruption in Java and Bali in view of the
\nhigh increase in demand as the economy began to recover at a more
\nrobust pace.<\/p>\n
In May and early December, 2003, many areas in Java and Bali
\nfell into total darkness for two consecutive nights due to supply
\ndisruptions caused by technical problems at the Paiton plant in
\nEast Java and the Suralaya plant in West Java. The shortage of
\npower outside Java was even worse, forcing frequent blackouts.<\/p>\n
Some newspapers, however, quoted informed sources at PLN as
\ndisclosing that PLN's total capacity in Java now already exceeded
\n19,500 MW thanks to the completion of the 840-MW capacity Muara
\nTawar plant near Jakarta and the 600-MW plant in Cilacap, Central
\nJava.<\/p>\n
Could it be then that several other major power stations are
\nalso encountering technical problems?<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, the power supply capacity is indeed at a
\ncritical level and is dangerously low.<\/p>\n
This power supply problem once again raises big questions
\nabout PLN's peak load management, maintenance systems and the
\nefficiency of its transmission and distribution lines.<\/p>\n
The power supply disruption could have been compounded by
\nlosses caused by technical problems in supply capacity at power
\nstations and in transmission and distribution lines. PLN itself
\nhas acknowledged that such losses could range from 15 to 16
\npercent, not including losses incurred by power theft.<\/p>\n
Even though rotating blackouts could perhaps be prevented over
\nthe next two weeks presuming cooperation on the part of
\nhouseholders cutting down their power consumption, and industrial
\nusers operating on their own power units, the current supply
\nproblem should jolt the state power monopoly and the government
\nto the urgent need for building additional power capacity.<\/p>\n
Many investors, notably those from overseas and including
\nJapan, have cited acute power shortages as one of the main
\nimpediments to new investment in the country.<\/p>\n
The government has rightly put power generation as a top
\npriority for the infrastructure projects being offered to private
\ninvestors.<\/p>\n
But not a single investor will be interested unless the
\ngovernment restores legal certainty for investment in the power
\nsector, especially after the annulment by the Constitutional
\nCourt of Law No.20\/2002 on electricity last December.<\/p>\n
This law was supposed to break down the PLN monopoly in power
\ngeneration, transmission and distribution to mid-size and large
\nusers and allow investors to enter the public utility industry.
\nBut now that this law has been decreed null and void, the
\nelectricity sector requires a new legal umbrella for arranging
\nrelationships between PLN and private investors.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rotating-power-blackouts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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