The South, Southeast and West Sulawesi regional branches of state-owned electricity company PT PLN will optimize their diesel power stations (PLTD), despite the fact that they are more costly to run, in an effort to avoid rotating blackouts during Idul Fitri, an official said Thursday.
PLN regional office general manager Haryanto confirmed after meeting South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo in Makassar, that the rotating power outages would be suspended temporarily three days before and two days after Idul Fitri.
Haryanto acknowledged that his office had requested an additional 1,000 to 1,200 kiloliters of Diesel and Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) per day for five days from state oil and gas company PT Pertamina to ensure a sufficient fuel supply for PLTDs on PLN's South and West Sulawesi interconnection network.
Pertamina Makassar Fuel Retail VII marketing unit general manager Ferdy Novianto said PLN's demand for diesel fuel stood at between 800 and 1,000 kiloliters daily and demand for MFO stood at between 4,000 and 6,000 kiloliters per month, but that this had increased to between 8,000 and 12,000 kiloliters per month in the past two weeks.
"We guarantee there won't be rotating blackouts during Idul Fitri, so Muslim residents can celebrate the holiday in peace, despite the added costs," Haryanto said, adding that PLN has yet to set a budget for fuel purchases.
Power production cost a total of Rp 1,250 (12 US cents) per kilowatt hour in the first half of this year, while the sale price was only Rp 650 per kilowatt hour.
Overhead costs will increase if PLN uses fuel to produce power because Pertamina charges the power company an industrial rate.
The current industrial price of diesel fuel is Rp 5,800 per liter and Rp 4,300 per liter for MFO.
PLN has been conducting rotating power outages for the past two weeks in South and West Sulawesi due to a power deficit of 65 megawatts in the day time and 70 megawatts at night given that the water level at the Bakaru hydro power station (PLTA) has dropped to 15 cubic meters per second, 25 cubic meters cubed per second less than is needed.
The Bakaru PLTA is the biggest power supplier in the area. Each of its two power generators has a capacity of 63 megawatts. Since the drought, it has only been able to operate one of the turbines. It must retain water in the day time so it can operate at night.
Haryanto said the current capacity of PLN and private power stations stood at 409 megawatts during the day and 482 megawatts at night, while the peak load period at night it is 530 megawatts and 467 megawatts in the day time.
However, he was optimistic power usage would drop up to 100 megawatts during Idul Fitri because many industries close for the holiday.
"With the drop in capacity, we are optimistic the current power load will meet the needs of people in South and West Sulawesi, especially now rain has started to fall in the upstream areas in Mamasa, replenishing the Bakaru PLTA, however slightly," Haryanto said.
