T

he Jakarta administration has set up 10 solar power plants on four islands in Thousand Islands regency with a total capacity of around 43,000 watts.

I Putu Ngurah Indiana, head of the Jakarta Industry and Energy Agency, said on Wednesday that the power plants were set up to service administration offices on the islands.

“The power plants were set up from Jakarta’s budget and with additional funds from the central government,” Indiana said.

Seven solar power plants with a total capacity of 18,300 watts are located on the Karya Islands, one plant of 24,000 watts capacity on Sabira Island and one 600 watt plant each on Onrust and Rambut Islands.

Indiana said that the solar power plant project was aimed at adding more green energy plants to the archipelago.

State electricity company, PT PLN, is currently setting up as many as 115 solar power plants across the country this year and expects to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of next year.

Six power plants have started operating in tourist locations in Bunaken in North Sulawesi, Wakatobi and Tomia in Southeast Sulawesi, Banda in Maluku, Raja Ampat in Papua and Derawan in East Kalimantan.

Indiana said that a project to lay down more underwater power lines to connect Thousand Islands regency with the mainland was still ongoing and was expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The administration had earmarked Rp 103 billion (US$11.5 million) to bring electricity to eight more islands, namely Semak Daun, Karya, Pramuka, Panggang, Harapan, Kelapa, Kelapa Dua and Panjang.

The underwater power line project, which began in 2007, has brought power from a power station in Tanjung Pasir, Tangerang, to the islands of Untung Jawa, Lancang, Pari, Payung and Tidung.

Residents in the southern part of the regency have received a power supply around the clock since March 2008, while residents in the regency’s north rely on diesel generators.

More than 20,000 people live on the regency’s main islands and several resort islands, including Sepa, Bidadari, Putri, Matahari and Kotok Besar.

The islands have attracted foreign tourists and in recent years, more and more local tourists.

The administration claims that the islands have significantly improved since they became a regency in 2006.

The Thousand Islands regency was formerly a district of North Jakarta. It consists of 105 islets with a total land area of 8.7 square kilometers.

The city has established public health centers in each of the regency’s six subdistricts, and one hospital in the regency capital of Pulau Panggang, with the target of having one public health center on each of the islands in the future.