Energy Ministry closely monitors Sumatra power system recovery
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is closely monitoring the recovery of Sumatra’s power system following a widespread blackout that affected several regions on Friday, 22 May 2026. The government has urged PT PLN (Persero) to accelerate the restoration of electricity supply to normalise public activities.
The ESDM, in coordination with the State Secretariat Ministry and PLN, has maintained intensive coordination since the outage began. The government has also deployed electricity inspection teams to the field to monitor restoration efforts and investigate the cause of the system failure.
‘As the regulator and overseer of the electricity subsector, the ESDM is taking the blackout incident seriously. We understand the outage has caused inconvenience to the public and impacted economic and social activities in affected areas,’ said Deputy Energy Minister Yuliot Tanjung in Jakarta, quoted on Monday, 25 May 2026.
Yuliot explained that a thorough technical investigation is being conducted to determine the root cause of Sumatra’s power system failure. The government is also preparing mitigation measures to prevent similar outages in the future.
Acting Director General of Electricity Tri Winarno stated the government is continuously evaluating the restoration process to ensure the power system becomes reliable and safe, with on-site monitoring conducted by electricity inspection teams.
‘In the initial phase following the widespread blackout, we deployed electricity inspection teams to the field and will strengthen them for more intensive investigations,’ Tri said.
Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia directed PLN to strengthen Sumatra’s power system backbone through the construction of 500 kV/275 kV power plants and transmission lines. The government considers strengthening subsystems in each province crucial for improving grid reliability.
PLN has also been instructed to prepare blackstart power plants and infrastructure to expedite recovery in the event of major grid failures. The government is pushing for accelerated construction of power plants in western Sumatra.
‘The Energy Minister has directed us to ensure the accelerated construction of power plants in western Sumatra proceeds smoothly,’ Tri said.
PT PLN (Persero) CEO Darmawan Prasodjo, along with the board of directors, visited the Sumatra Power Distribution and Load Control Unit (UIP3BS) in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Sunday, 24 May 2026, to oversee system normalisation. PLN is accelerating the restoration of interconnected transmission networks and ensuring all recovery stages proceed safely.
PLN reported that 5,579 megawatts (MW) of power has been restored to 1,770 affected customer distribution networks. As of 6:00 AM WIB on Monday, 25 May 2026, 176 impacted main substations have been restored to normal operation.
‘We are directly overseeing the normalisation process on-site, and Sumatra’s power system is now fully restored. PLN continues to restore power to all customers,’ Darmawan said.
He explained that restoration efforts began intensively after the outage on Friday, 22 May 2026, with a phased approach starting from power plants, transmission networks, main substations, and finally to public distribution.
PLN indicated the initial fault originated from a 275 kV transmission system between Muara Bungo and Sungai Rumbai in Jambi, likely influenced by weather conditions. This triggered a domino effect across Sumatra’s power system, affecting multiple power plants in various regions.
After Sumatra’s transmission network was reconnected, PLN proceeded with phased power plant restarts and system synchronisation, gradually reintegrating power from generators into the transmission system to restore full supply.
‘Power plant normalisation continues in stages, particularly for coal-based plants which require longer synchronisation times,’ Darmawan explained.
PLN has prioritised securing power supply to public facilities such as hospitals, airports, and community service centres to maintain operations during restoration. System conditions are being closely monitored via UIP3BS, the operational control centre for Sumatra’s power system.
In Pekanbaru, Darmawan inspected the operations of PLTU Tenayan power plant with PLN’s board. Simultaneously, southern Sumatra’s restoration coordination was led from the Southern Sumatra Load Control Unit (UP2B Sumbagsel) in Palembang, South Sumatra.