PLN guarantees Bali power supply
PLN guarantees Bali power supply
JAKARTA (JP): State electricity company PT PLN assured on
Tuesday that Bali would not suffer power outages despite the
breakdown of one of the two power plants on the resort island.
"People in Bali need not be afraid about blackouts. The power
plant will resume operation on Thursday at the latest to secure
power supply on the island," secretary of PT Pembangkitan Listrik
Jawa Bali I (PJB I) Waluyo Nugroho Harjowinoto told The Jakarta
Post and Kompas daily.
PLN subsidiary PJB I operates most of PLN's power plants
across the country.
Waluyo said the 138.8 megawatt (MW) power plant in Gilimanuk
experienced technical failure beginning last Friday.
PLN has reportedly imposed rotating blackouts at night in
several towns, including Sanur, Denpasar, Buleleng and Pancasari
(Bedugul).
"But repair work on the plant is progressing well and on
Thursday, when the power plant will resume operation at half of
its peak capacity, the entire island will have enough power
supplies both day and night," Waluyo said.
"The interruption in the operation of the power plant is
merely because of a technical problem. No nontechnical factors
are involved."
He said broken diffusers created difficulties in combustion
and start-up at the plant. The company has dispatched new parts
from Java to return the power plant to full capacity.
However, Waluyo said technicians at the power plant believed
they would be able to fix the system to operate at half capacity
pending the arrival of the new components.
Waluyo said Bali normally received a power supply of 335 MW,
including 140 MW from Gilimanuk, 95 MW from the island's other
plant at Pesanggerahan and 90 MW from Java through an underwater
cable.
The island's energy needs are about 170 MW during daytime and
about 270 MW at night.
An employee of state fishing company Samudra Besar, Sutarjo,
told the Post that local residents were surprised by a short
power outage on Friday.
"Normally, PLN makes an announcement prior to any power
blackout," said the Denpasar resident.
He added that most residents of Bali were unaware of the
problems at Gilimanuk because they were not covered by local
newspapers.
"But even if the power plant has problems, we don't want to
see them reported by local newspapers due to the fear that such a
negative news story could cause unnecessary worry among the
public and the tourist industry, whose operations depend mainly
on power supplies," Sutarjo added.
Until last year, Bali's sole power plant was at Pesanggerahan,
with the rest of its energy supplied from Java through the Java-
Bali inter-connected power grid.
PLN decided last year to relocate one unit of the Muara Tawar
power plant in East Java to Gilimanuk to secure power supplies on
the island following damage to underwater cables.
PLN's contractors have tried to lay six underwater cables to
transmit power from Java to Bali since 1984. Only one of the
cables can operate properly, with the others damaged by ships'
anchors or rocks. The strait separating Java and Bali is known
for its strong undercurrent.
Analysts fear Bali could suffer blackouts in the future if it
remains dependent on one underwater cable. (jsk)