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Government to restore electricity in Palu within three days
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Earthquake survivors in Palu, Central Sulawesi, gather at Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport in Palu in a desperate attempt to leave the devastated area on Oct. 1. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)
T
he Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has set a target of three days to restore the electricity network in Palu and Donggala, Central Sulawesi, that was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami last week.
The ministry's Electricity Director General Andy Sommeng told the press on Monday that as a temporary measure, the government would rely on diesel generator sets supplied by state-owned electricity company PLN.
“As a first measure, we will send portable generators from PLN along with 200 personnel,” he said adding that five of the seven power stations in the region had collapsed after the earthquake.
Electricity at transportation hubs like airports and ports had been restored, he said, although he did not disclose the names of the airports and ports.
He said peak electricity demand in both regions reached 138 megawatts (MW).
Previously, PLN issued a release saying that it had repaired three diesel fuel-based power plants with a total capacity of 3.9 megawatts (MW).
“We hope that the three facilities will start to electrify residences tonight,” PLN Sulawesi business director Syamsul Huda said on Friday, adding that at least 22 generator sets had been sent to the disaster-hit areas from Manado in North Sulawesi.
On Sunday afternoon, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced that the death toll had reached 832. (bbn)
