Hybrid power generator lifts village out of poverty
P.J.Leo, The Jakarta Post, Oeledo, East Nusa Tenggara
It was not until the year 2000 that electricity reached Oeledo village in the regency of Rote Ndao. Oeledo villagers rightly feel proud of this, especially because their electricity is generated by a hybrid system, touted to be the only one ever employed in the Asia Pacific region.
With a capacity of 20,000 Watts, the small power generator is able to supply power to 127 of Oeledo's 400 families. The fact that they are located across a vast sprawling area poses a problem in power distribution.
The system combines wind power, solar power and diesel generators to produce electricity. But so far, the diesel generator functions as a back-up only.
The use of this hybrid system has attracted quite a number of curious foreigners to the village, to see just how well it operates. Villagers say that the electrical power supply has never been interrupted.
On other islands across the country, Java and Bali, for example, electrical power generally comes from hydro-electrical power plants. Understandably, in the present dry season, a short supply of water has led to an acute crisis of electricity. If the dry season persists until late November, state-owned electricity company PLN will have to rotate blackouts in several regions across the country
It is really an irony to see that many areas of Java and Bali, for example, have to take turns receiving PLN electricity supplies while in faraway Oeledo, on a quite remote area of Rote island, there is no interruption in power supplies despite the drought.
Oeledo enjoys the uninterrupted electricity thanks to the Women In Transition Foundation - better known as the Womintra Foundation - which brought the technology to the village through its E-7 Project.
The foundation, which sought to eradicate poverty and empower women in Oeledo, enjoys the support of G-7, a group of seven wealthy countries -- the United States, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany and France and Britain (which is not involved in the project) -- hence the name E (Electricity)-7 originates.
"Oeledo village is a pilot project where a practical, efficient and appropriate power-generating technology has been applied in an effort to empower the locals," said the foundation's director, Susy MD Katipana.
Indeed, since the hybrid power-generating system brought electricity to the village in 2000, Oeledo has attracted other developing countries in Asia and Africa. On Aug. 25, 2003, for example, delegates from Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan visited the village for a comparative study of the hybrid power- generating system.
"Before the introduction of electricity, the village was backward, and people's income was low," said Katipana. "Thanks to electricity, they can raise their monthly income from some Rp 400,000 to over Rp 1 million. The villagers use electricity for their home industries and other economically beneficial activities," she added.
The presence of electricity has encouraged locals, who mostly lack formal education, to learn new skills and do income- generating activities.
"It took us four years to prove to the villagers that this hybrid power generating system was useful to raise their living standards. The Oeledo people cannot just accept something new from the outset. They used to think that nothing was better than the traditional know-how they inherited from their ancestors," Katipana said.
The foundation spent the whole of 1996 surveying villages in East Nusa Tenggara to find the right one for a pilot project. After picking Oeledo for the program, they spent another year preparing locals to work in the power-generating plant. The next two years (1998-1999) saw the construction of this plant.
"Now that Oeledo can tap the benefits of this E-7 Project, the local administration should support it, because the successful project will also be introduced to other villages, in East Nusa Tenggara in particular, and also in other provinces across the country.