PLN in the dark

PLN in the dark

The massive power failure in Java and Bali on Thursday is
emblematic of the crumbling infrastructure in Indonesia and the
state electricity company (PLN)'s poor peak load management,
inadequate maintenance system, and overloaded transmission and
distribution lines.

The power failure, the biggest since those of 2002, should
clearly have caused huge losses as it switched off lights in
offices and commercial premises and shut down factories across
Java and Bali, plunging Jakarta into gridlock as traffic signals
failed. Confused workers spilled out onto the streets, while
thousands of stranded commuters were trapped for hours in crowded
train stations.

The state power monopoly said the blackout was caused by a
technical fault in the Cilegon-Saguling, West Java, section of
its 500-kilovolt Java-Bali overhead transmission line, which
triggered the circuit breakers, thereby isolating the Suralaya
power plant in West Java and the Paiton plant in East Java. This
set off a chain reaction within the high-voltage Java-Bali grid,
which within half an hour had blacked out vast swathes of these
two islands.

Even while PLN was still investigating the cause of the
problem, it tried to cover up for its own inadequacies by
reminding consumers that even in the United States, well known
for its modern and sophisticated power infrastructure, a similar
massive power failure also occurred in 2003. The unprecedented
outage that hit the northeastern United States and Canada in mid-
August, 2003, was also caused by technical problems involving
high-voltage overhead transmission lines.

Of even greater concern, however, is the PLN warning on
Thursday that a recurrence of such a massive power failure within
the Java-Bali grid cannot be ruled out. This only adds to the
worries of electricity consumers. Besides the rotating blackouts
that are regularly inflicted on various provinces outside Java,
such as in Sumatra, due to a shortage of diesel supplies or
inadequate generating capacity, the possibility of sudden
blackouts now looms over consumers due to technical problems that
could recur anytime in PLN's creaking transmission
infrastructure.

Energy analysts and PLN itself had warned as far back as 2000
of looming power-supply disruptions in Java and Bali in view of
the rapid increases in demand taking place as the economy began
to recover, and the fact that PLN's only high-voltage
transmission line along the north coast of Java was straining
under the weight of ever-heavier loads.

In May and early December, 2003, many areas of Java and Bali
were plunged into total darkness for two consecutive nights due to supply
disruptions caused by technical problems at the Paiton plant in
East Java and the Suralaya plant in West Java. In view of all
this, it is crystal clear that power supply capacity is currently
at a critical level.

Many investors, notably those from overseas, such as Japan,
have cited an acute power supply shortage as one of the main
barriers to new investment in the country.

PLN badly needs a new, alternative transmission grid. However,
the construction of the second high-voltage transmission grid on
the south coast of Java has long been hampered by land
acquisition problems.

The project has been facing strong opposition from local
communities in Central and West Java, which want access to all
the electricity they can use but do not want to have power
transmission lines passing over their homes and farms. And the
state electricity monopoly and the government have apparently not
been treating the problem of one of the utmost urgency.

As long as PLN and the government are unable to expedite land
acquisition to allow the completion of the second transmission
grid, our overloaded power system in Java will remain a major
disaster waiting to happen.

Further down the line, failure to resolve the land acquisition
problems bedeviling the construction of the southern power grid
will present an ominous sign to private investors, and quite
possibly lead them to shun the infrastructure projects the
government has been promoting since early this year.