Mount Semeru Eruption: Ministry, PLN Work on Restoring Power Supply

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Directorate General of Electricity of the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry has deployed a team to restore power in areas affected by the eruption of Mount Semeru in Tempeh Sub-district, Lumajang, East Java.

The Electricity Inspector Team, which is part of the ministry’s disaster preparedness team, will be on duty from December 6–9, 2021, and will collaborate with a team from state-owned electricity provider PT PLN (Persero), director of electrical engineering and environment at the ministry, Wanhar, said here on Monday.

"The team’s assignment is the ministry’s quick response to expedite the recovery of electricity infrastructure and supply in the areas affected by the eruption of Mount Semeru,” he added.

The team will also prioritize the safety aspect while carrying out its tasks, he said.

In addition to conducting electricity recovery inspections in the area and providing electricity to refugee shelters, the team will also monitor the number of home power connections that are still out of service because of recovery efforts as well as the number of damaged/destroyed houses where electricity connection cannot be recovered, he informed.

Furthermore, he said that the team will inspect electricity supply in the refugee area, which President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to visit on December 7, 2021.

Meanwhile, vice president of corporate communications of PT.PLN, Gregorius Adi Trianto, said that the company has deployed 124 personnel to the affected areas.

The officers continue to coordinate with the East Java Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) to know which areas are safe or not, as well as which zones can be passed through, he added.

General manager of PLN for the East Java Distribution Main Unit, Adi Priyanto, further informed that the personnel have been divided into two teams.

"Some 53 officers are in the standby team, while another 71 officers are in the working team. The teams continue to strive to immediately restore electricity while prioritizing the safety of the residents," he said.

The teams are also providing generators to the command post for lighting and communication purposes for the convenience of residents, he said.

"We have also brought 8 units of portable generators with a capacity of 2.2 to 4 kilowatts (kW) and 1 unit with a capacity of 23 kW," the general manager added.

New electricity networks will be built for areas that remain cut off, he informed. It is planned that on Monday, the team will turn on 69 transformers out of a total 79, which are still off, he said.

"We will build the new network by connecting it to the existing network located in Dampit sub-district. Meanwhile, (for) the restoration of 10 other transformers (the team) is still waiting for the permit from the authorities to ensure that the situation is safe for work," Priyanto added.

The restoration of the 69 transformers will impact 19,937 customers, while the other 10 transformers will affect 2,889 customers, he said.

Read: Jokowi to Monitor Affected Areas of Mount Semeru Eruption

ANTARA