Lightning-struck power lines and bats suspected of causing Batam blackout

Energy Transition and Downstreaming Coordinating Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the blackout in Batam, Riau Islands, may have been caused by several technical problems, including disruption to power lines by lightning and a possible animal-related incident.

Bahlil said reports he had received pointed to several technical issues with electricity network management in the area.

“There were several technical problems in Batam, and some power lines experienced trouble because of lightning, according to them. There was also a technical error, roughly speaking,” Bahlil said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He added that one suspected cause involved an animal, possibly a bat. However, Bahlil gave no further details about the sequence of events or how this factor might have contributed to the outage.

“There were three technical issues. One of them, they said, was that an animal, perhaps a bat or something, came into contact with [the network], roughly speaking,” he said.

Bahlil said the disruption was a concern for the government as it sought to improve electricity services for the public, adding that more intensive repairs were needed in several regions.

He said the matter concerned implementation handled by state-owned company PT PLN (Persero) and should be examined further through the company’s technical assessment.

Asked whether residents affected by the outage would receive compensation, Bahlil said he would first discuss the matter with PLN.

“I will discuss it first with my colleagues at PLN, because PLN is best placed to understand the technical implementation on the ground,” he added.