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Batam electricity demands decline, supplier worried
Power crisis: PLN Batam president director Dadan Kurniadipura says that since November 2014 electricity demands from the industrial sector in Batam have declined by nearly 20 percent
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Power crisis: PLN Batam president director Dadan Kurniadipura says that since November 2014 electricity demands from the industrial sector in Batam have declined by nearly 20 percent. (Antara) (Antara)
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span class="inline inline-center">Power crisis: PLN Batam president director Dadan Kurniadipura says that since November 2014 electricity demands from the industrial sector in Batam have declined by nearly 20 percent. (Antara)
Electricity company PLN Batam, aka Bright PLN Batam, have claimed that over the past year, electricity demand in the industrial sector of Batam has continually declined after the collapse of several companies in the area.
PLN Batam has called on the government to immediately facilitate an electricity connection between Batam and Bintan Island so that surplus power supply from PLN Batam, a subsidiary of state-owned electricity company PT PLN, could be channeled to Bintan Island to help cover losses caused by power over-production in Batam.
PLN Batam president director Dadan Kurniadipura said that since November 2014, electricity demands from the industrial sector in Batam had fallen by nearly 20 percent. Of the total 110 megawatts (MW) of electricity previously supplied to the industrial sector, PLN is now supplying only 90 MW, and 270 MW to all other sectors.
'As many companies have shut down, the electricity demands of the industrial sector have declined by up to 30 MW. We are worried about what this will lead to. What should we do with our installed capacity? We hope that an electricity connection from Batam to Bintan can be arranged immediately so that our power supply can be sold ['¦] in Bintan Island,' said Dadan.
He could not give the exact number of companies and workshops in Batam that had closed but said that the closures were due to the appreciation of US dollar against the rupiah.
Dadan said each factory in Batam needed an electricity supply of between 2 and 5 MW, depending on its type of industrial activity. The shipyard industry used the most electricity.
'The shipyard industry in Batam is now facing a crisis, thus, electricity demand from the shipyard industry has experienced a drastic decline,' he said.
Every month, Dadan said, PLN Batam made Rp 180 billion (US$12.6 million) worth of sales, 25 percent of which came from the industrial sector. (ebf) (++++)
