Java warned of iminent blackouts

Java warned of iminent blackouts

The Jakarta Post, Banjarnegara/Semarang/Bandung

Disruptions in power supplies are imminent in West Java, Central
Java and Banten amid the prolonged dry season, which has caused
water shortages in the provinces.

The drought has made the amount of water in three large dams
-- Kedungombo, Gajahmungkur and Tulis -- in Central Java drop
from the normal levels.

Hydropower plants at the three dams, which supply electricity
to the provinces, had to stop operations due to the insufficient
amount of water.

However, power supplies remain safe providing no interruptions
occur in the Java-Bali power grid, which is interconnected to
other power plants.

"If hydropower plants fail due to low water levels in the
dams, we still have plants that generate electricity from other
sources that are able to replace them," said Embut Subianto, a
spokesman for state electricity company PT PLN in Central Java.

Apart from that, each of the three hydropower plants only
produce 100 megawatts per day, he said.

"So there is no significant correlation between the failure of
the three dams during the current dry season with power
supplies," added Mulyono, general manager of PT Indonesia Power
based in Banjarnegara, Central Java.

However, PLN has asked people in Central Java to be prepared
for power blackouts at anytime if consumer load becomes too
heavy.

In West Java, PLN has begun to use power plants owned by
private factories to help with power supplies in the province.

Agus Pranoto, PLN's distribution chief for West Java and
Banten provinces, said the decrease in water levels in Saguling,
Jatiluhur and Cirata dams had forced his company to use private
power plants.

The dams have reduced electricity production by 1,780
megawatts to only 1,200 megawatts per day, he said in Bandung,
West Java, on Friday after signing a memorandum of understanding
with steel company PT Krakatau Steel in Banten.

"The hydropower plants at the three dams can still operate,
but we are declaring it an emergency situation," Agus said.

Under the memorandum, Krakatau Steel agrees to lend its power
plant to PLN to produce electricity for parts of Banten at night,
when it normally does not operate.

The company's power plant is capable of producing electricity
for PLN's approximately 150,000 customers with a household
capacity of between 450 watts and 900 watts in Banten.

Agus said PLN was also exploring the possibility of using the
power plant of pulp and paper company PT Indah Kiat.

Last week, the government said water shortages had become
serious on Java island, including in the capital city, which
could threaten power supplies in the coming months.

"We have found that the drought in a number of areas on the
island is pretty bad," State Minister of the Environment Nabiel
Makarim said on Monday.

An official of the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional
Infrastructure, Roestam Syarief, earlier said that water supplies
from Jatiluhur Dam in West Java to Jakarta's state tap water firm
PDAM had decreased to 60 percent of the normal amount.

The water level in Jatiluhur Dam was 84.5 meters as of Aug. 5,
down from the usual 94.19 meters.