Asians, Africans study hybrid power system in NTT

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

Delegates from at least 15 Asian and African countries are on a one-week visit to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), to study the hybrid power system in Oeledo village, Pante Baru subdistrict.

Twelve of the delegates, including those from Uganda, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand, arrived here on Thursday, and the remaining three are scheduled to arrive on Sunday.

Oeledo is the only village in Indonesia that has developed such a hybrid system to generate electricity.

The system, which uses solar energy combined with wind generation, is the latest technology being promoted in developing countries in Asia and Africa, to offset the high cost of electricity.

Susi Katipana, director of the Women in Transition Foundation (Womintra), said on Friday the new electricity system had helped improve the welfare of villagers in Oeledo.

The Kupang-based Womintra is a non-governmental organization that introduced the hybrid power project in the village in 1996.

Susi said before the hybrid power system was developed in Oeledo, there was not enough electricity to meet the needs of locals.

"Now the average income of the villagers is more than Rp 1 million (US$119) per family. It is because they now have electricity to develop home industries and for other economic activities," she told The Jakarta Post.

She said the project was carried out with assistance from Japan and other donors, and that it would eventually be implemented in other developing countries.

The hybrid system produces environmentally friendly electricity at lower costs.