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PLN promises no more blackouts in N. Sumatra
North Sumatran residents can look forward to a consistent power supply after four months of rotating blackouts, electricity company PLN says
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orth Sumatran residents can look forward to a consistent power supply after four months of rotating blackouts, electricity company PLN says.
Since December last year until this month the province has experienced rotating blackouts, which were blamed on problems at the Belawan power plant in Medan city.
“After inspecting the plant, we can make sure that North Sumatra power distribution will be safe,” the company’s president director Dahlan Iskan said during a recent trip to the power plant.
He said he has personally inspected the power plant, which now operates at its maximum rate, producing more than 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Moreover, PT Inalum also provided extra power, at around 60 to 70 megawatt at nighttime to help PLN supply electricity during peak hours.
“At peak hours, the need reaches 1,300 to 1,400 MV but it’s been taken care of, [we] are even supplying 70 MW of electricity to Pekanbaru [in Riau province].”
Dahlan was quick to add that the power supply distributed to Pekanbaru could be withdrawn if required in North Sumatra.
Improved power supply, he said, meant a green light for businesspeople to distribute electricity to industries. “Previously, we made a deal with companies to stop using PLN’s electricity after 5 p.m. But [we have] loosen things up although we haven’t reviewed the deal yet.”
The move, he said, aimed to give bigger opportunities to businesspeople and enable them resume productivity and hire more workers.
The electricity company, he said, has set the target to secure electricity supply in eight areas, with Medan city in North Sumatra as one of the main targets.
“Our target is to better manage electricity supply by July 2010 to ensure light across the country.”
When asked reasons behind blackouts still experienced by parts of Medan, he said it had nothing to do with the energy crisis and was due to maintenance problems.
“Maybe there’s repair work been done to fix cables or else. If the blackout happened for more than three hours, residents could directly report this to PLN there so action would be taken to the contractor who conducted the repair work.”
The director of the Foundation of Consumers Protection Advocacy in North Sumatra, Farid Wajdi, said
he was not convinced by PLN’s promise.
“PLN should not make promises it can’t keep. We’re fed up with empty promises, we want reality.”
