PLN Needs 15 Hours to Recommission Hydroelectric Plants in Sumatra, Thermal Power Plants Take Longer

Jakarta, Kompas.com - PLN (Persero) says it needs five to fifteen hours to restore electricity generation that had tripped in Sumatra. PLN’s President Director Darmawan Prasodjo said the process of starting up, connecting, and synchronising hydroelectric plants (PLTA) and gas-fired plants (PLTG) could be quicker. ‘In this case, it ranges from five to fifteen hours,’ he said at a press conference, as quoted from Kompas TV’s YouTube channel, on Saturday (23 May 2026). This is because operators must heat the water first and switch them on one by one. ‘Then we must connect and synchronise them, and this takes time,’ Darmawan added. The power plants in Sumatra had tripped due to the domino effect from transmission damage in the Jambi region. The disruption caused transmission to be cut, resulting in over-supply in some areas and increases in frequency and voltage. ‘The plants automatically drop out of the system — in public terms, they automatically trip,’ said Darmawan. PLN is restoring PLTA and PLTG in a systematic manner so that the electricity network across several areas in Sumatra is reconnected. ‘Some systems in southern Sumatra, central Sumatra, and northern Sumatra, including North Sumatra and Aceh, which were previously fully out, are now showing points where electricity is already turning on,’ said Darmawan.