PLN says natural causes behind power outage
PLN says natural causes behind power outage
JAKARTA (JP): State electricity company PT PLN said early
investigations indicated that unpredictable forces of nature were
responsible for the power outage that affected several areas of
Jakarta on Thursday, dismissing suspicions of deteriorating
services due to PLN's financial constraints.
PLN general manager in charge of power distribution for
Jakarta and Tangerang, Margo Santoso, said that wayward kites or
forces of nature, such as lightning, could have triggered
Thursday's power outage.
He said that this type of interference would not damage
transmission equipment, but instead activated a security system
that shut down the supply of power.
"When the disruption occurred our men simply needed to turn
the power back on," he told The Jakarta Post.
On Thursday, a number of areas in Jakarta were left in the
dark for several hours when power went out at about 4:38 p.m..
PLN said it had been able to resume the power supply by 5:15
p.m..
Among the affected areas were North, East, Central and South
Jakarta, including Angke, Ancol, Tanjung Priok, Gedung Pola,
Cempaka Putih, Plumpang, Marunda, Mangga Besar, Kelapa Gading,
Gambir and Pondok Gede.
"Because the problem occurred on the 500 kilovolt (KV)
transmission cable between Cibinong and Bekasi, the impact was
huge," Margo said.
Margo explained that the 500KV transmission grids control the
electricity supplies for large areas.
According to him, power outages at 500KV transmission grids
caused by natural agents occurred once last year, not at all in
1999 and twice in 1998.
Margo dismissed concerns that budget constraints at PLN had
led to lower maintenance for its 500KV transmission grids.
"The 500KV transmission grid is too vital to be left
unattended," he said.
Fears that PLN may have cut its maintenance budget arose due
to consideration of the company's massive financial losses
suffered over the last three years.
With some Rp 24 trillion (about US$2.5 billion) in losses last
year, PLN's financial performance is among the worst of the state
firms.
The power outage also came amid fears of rising power demand
leading to overloads at several transmission grids, but Margo
dismissed the idea that this had occurred on Thursday.
He said PLN was still investigating the cause behind the power
outage, though there was a likelihood that they would not
establish any concrete evidence.
"It's hard to determine the real cause, as no physical damage
was found at our installations," he explained.
He said that instances of natural forces disrupting power
supplies were common, even in developed countries.
On one occasion "cosmic dust" was believed to have prompted a
power outage in the United States, according to Margo.(bkm)