PLN: Java Power Outage Not Caused by Single Root

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned electricity firm PLN acting-president director Sripeni Inten Cahyani has refrained from hastily deducing the main cause of the massive power outage in Java Island that affected Jakarta, West Java, and Banten on Sunday, August 4. She maintains that it cannot be blamed on a single cause.

“As for the blackout on Sunday that affected three regions, it cannot be pinned to one single cause. We ask for more time to conduct an investigation that enables a thorough assessment,” said Sripeni at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta, Tuesday, August 6.

She explained that Java – Bali electrical distribution is set in such a complex system that consists of 250 power plants, 500 substations, 5,000 kilometers of transmission circuits 500 kV and 7,000 kilometers of 150 kV transmissions.

“We ask for more time considering the complexity and our plan to be completely comprehensive in making sure about the cause of the blackout and what steps we need to take in the future,” said Sripeni.

She maintains that the firm intends to not only find the root cause of the technical disaster but also how to improve on the future of the Java-Bali electrical system. Sripeni also mentioned that her office will use the expertise of experts in the field of electrical engineering.

Previous reports saw PLN Executive Vice President Corporate Communication & CSR, I Made Suprateka strongly denying that the massive Java power outage was intentional sabotage.

CAESAR AKBAR | HENDARTYO HANGGI