TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned electricity company PT PLN (Persero) is aiming to electrify 11,300 villages by 2019 in a bid to meet the target of electrification ratio currently standing at 91 percent.

The PLN director for planning Nicke Widyawati explained that 2,530 of the said villages are yet to enjoy electricity, whereas the rest are only electrified for less than 6 hours per day.

“… Considering the national electrification ratio as of the end 2016 was standing at 91 percent, the remaining electrification ratio [to meet] is 9.1 percent,” Nicke said Wednesday at the PLN head office in Jakarta.

She said that the remaining 9.1 percent electrification ratio will be more difficult to achieve because the targets are located in Indonesia’s remote eastern regions.

Machnizon Masri, business director for Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara Region, said that 700 villages in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) will be electrified in 2017. The construction of power network and transmission is expected to complete by November.

As for electrification of other parts of eastern regions, such as Maluku, Papua, and islets in Sumatra, PLN will push for the utilization of new renewable energy.

The regions will have their own energy source according to their natural conditions to meet electrification ratio and improve the use of new renewable energy to 23 percent by 2025.

ANTARA