Wind-powered energy project introduced in Central Java

BOGOR (JP): The government has launched a modest, pilot wind power project in Jepara, a town in Central Java.

The town is located in the same peninsula where Indonesia will build its first nuclear project.

People in two small villages in the Jepara regency, in Bulak Baru and Kalianyar, are already enjoying electricity supplied by wind-powered turbines.

The villages have been selected as the site for the pilot projects of the National Aeronautics and Aviation Agency (LAPAN) to help the local people receive electricity.

The project is also aimed at supporting the local craftsmen, who are famous for their teakwood carving skills.

Sahat Pakpahan, the agency's chief of applied aviation technology, said on Thursday that wind-power could become an attractive alternative power source for remote areas which the state electricity company (PLN) cannot reach.

"The use of wind energy in the villages is one of the efforts to develop, apply and distribute the technology simultaneously," he said.

Sahat said that the villages were chosen after a comprehensive study on the wind potential in both areas in 1990. The first three turbines were erected in both cities the following year, he added.

Bulak Baru, he said, is a new village built by the provincial administration in 1981 with 620 families, while the other village, located in a more remote area, has 329 families.

The average speed of the wind in the areas is between 3.7 and 4.1 meters per second, which is regarded as suitable for small- scale, wind-powered turbines.

Some 31 turbines with a total capacity of 37,750 kilowatts are now standing in the two villages to cater the needs of the people, he added.

The construction of the turbines in the villages are intended to set an example on how technology could be directly applied for the benefit of the people.

It is also intended to determine the most suitable type of wind turbine for Indonesia, Sahat said, adding that the project is being carried out in cooperation with the Semarang-based Diponegoro University and the Central Java provincial administration.

The wind is monitored with automatic devices which could record its movement in hourly, daily and monthly increments.

Sahat said generators have been provided to maintain the power when the wind is weak. (par)