PLN admits power reserves running thin
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned electricity company PT PLN said that power reserves on Java and Bali had been depleted, but stopped short of saying there could be more blackouts in the future.
Company president Eddie Widiono said that the current reserve margin had reached 28 percent, which is lower than the minimum reserve margin of 30 percent to avert power disruptions.
"Our power reserves have been depleted. Consequently, if we can't meet the minimum standby reserve, we will go into alert mode," Eddie said on Wednesday on the sidelines of a discussion of electricity rates.
"But our reserves have recovered. Hopefully, there won't be rotating blackouts again in the future," he said.
Eddy said PLN's total installed capacity on Java and Bali stood at 18,610 megawatts (MW), while the peak load is 13,300 MW. It therefore has a reserve of 5,310 MW or 28 percent of its capacity.
However, Eddie said, in reality, its reserve was only between 5 percent and 10 percent as between 3,000 and 3,500 MW of the capacity was set aside for maintenance.
Experts have pointed out that with such a thin reserve margin, Java was at high risk of experiencing power disruptions at any peak-load time period.
Energy analysts have long warned of a looming power crisis on Java and Bali since there has been no new additional power infrastructure since the start of the economic crisis in 1997.
The disruption to the power supply on Java and Bali last week caused blackouts in some areas of the two islands.
The blackouts caused problems for industrial users, some of which require a round-the-clock supply of power.
The government said the power disruption was caused by technical problems at four power plants: the Gresik power plant (600 MW), Gunung Salak (165 MW), Saguling (700 MW) and Cirata (1,008 MW).
Eddy said PLN had managed to repair some of the power plants.
Eddie said that PLN could not fully operate some of its power plants in the region, particularly gas-fired ones, as they had been forced to use oil products, such as fuel, rather than natural gas due to a shortage of gas.
"Since oil products are expensive, we would rather operate the power plants only during the peak-load time instead of around the clock," Eddie said.
In addition, he said, the use of oil products in the power plant engines caused unnecessary wear.
"Normally, power plant engines should be overhauled after they are operated for 6,000 hours. But with the use of oil, that operation period is shortened to 2,500 hours," he said.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government would launch an audit on PLN's power plants to examine their real installed capacity and to find ways to boost their efficiency.
"For example, a power plant has an installed capacity of 100 MW but it may be lower because it has been running for 20 years," he said on Wednesday at the same discussion.
Purnomo said demand for power plants had outpaced the supply.
To increase the power supply, Purnomo said the government would offer an open tender to investors as soon as the government resolved the price dispute with 27 independent power producers.