Indonesia Needs Electricity Reserves: Energy Watch
Translator
Editor
7 August 2019 05:49 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The executive director of Energy Watch, Mamit Setiawan, said that Indonesia needs electricity reserves to anticipate incidents of power outages that can cripple business and public facilities, especially in big cities.
"Energy reserves are very important when electricity infrastructure is paralyzed. It must be quickly resolved," Setiawan said when contacted in Jakarta on Tuesday.
A major blackout affected thousands of homes and public facilities in Greater Jakarta and West Java on Sunday afternoon. The electricity went out at 11:48 a.m. local time.
The blackout also affected commuter train services and the MRT.
Setiawan explained that the government should evaluate the national energy reserves which are still vulnerable to problems, especially shutdowns or when electricity infrastructure is paralyzed.
"Yesterday's incident made everyone aware that we (Indonesia) are vulnerable," he said.
Furthermore, Setiawan said that a major blackout disrupted the business sector and public services, such as the MRT, commuter trains, banking, telecommunications, and hospitals.
Referring to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) in 2018, Indonesia's electricity supply reached 62,600 Mega Watt (MW). The electricity consumption was recorded at 1,064 kilo Watt hours (kWh) per capita.
As the population and businesses increase, the electricity supply and consumption also increase.
Therefore the government should prepare energy reserves to accommodate consumer needs in the future.
The National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) is conducting a full root-cause investigation to identify the reason behind the major over six-hour blackout in Jakarta, Banten, and West Java on August 4, 2019, a police spokesman stated.
The investigation aims to ascertain whether the blackout resulted from human error, Chief of the Public Relations Bureau of the National Police, Brigadier General Dedi Prasetyo, stated on Monday. "It is being investigated to establish its cause. It could be the result of a technical disruption, human error, or something else," he noted.
ANTARA
