PLN builds undersea network to supply Gili islands

The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) regional office of state-owned power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has begun building an undersea network to supply electricity to the tourism islands of Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno.

The network is expected to deliver power to the islands measuring 5 megawatts (MW).

PLN NTB technical manager Anang Widjajanta told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that the company was building supporting infrastructure for an undersea cable network in Pemenang district, the closest district to the islands.

“We have started to build the inland supporting infrastructure and are now surveying the undersea location. The construction is expected to be completed by around August or September,” Anang said.

The undersea network will use a 4.6-kilometer cable installed at 30 meters below sea level and will be connected to the closest diesel power plant in North Lombok. “PLN has allocated Rp 40 billion (US$4.48 million) for the project,” he said.

He cited that the gili or small islands needed up to 1.5 MW, 1.2 MW of which were for Gili Trawangan, the biggest islet among the three.

The islets are currently supported by diesel power plants and 200 solar power plants in Gili Trawangan.
However, extreme weather can disrupt power supply in the resort area.

North Lombok Regent Djohan Sjamsu lauded PLN’s plan, saying that that the local administration was also working on clean water project for the three exotic islets. He said the local administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with PT Sikem Aneka Indonesia, a consultant and investor in the project, earlier this month.

“I hope that this clean water project will complete this year, with a total investment worth Rp 50 billion,” he said.

The Gili Islands were North Lombok’s tourism icon, welcoming more than 300,000 local and foreign tourists every year. (swd)