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View all search resultsLife in the dark: Northern Sumatra residents wait for a flicker of hope
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Afridoni, a local man, cries while attending funeral prayers for unidentified victims of the recent flash floods and landslides at the Great mosque of Syekh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi in Padang, West Sumatra, December 10, 2025. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
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uthorities are struggling to restore power in northern Sumatra, particularly in Aceh, after widespread floods and landslides last month, triggered by a rare cyclone and exacerbated by environmental destruction, with felled trees sweeping away villages, causing massive damage and hampering recovery.
State electricity company PLN faces extraordinary challenges in repairing collapsed transmission towers, president director Darmawan Prasodjo has revealed, citing heavy components and cables that had to be transported from Jakarta to provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and then airlifted to damaged sites.
“Some 35 tonnes of tower repair materials had to be airlifted by helicopter, piece by piece,” Darmawan Prasodjo said during a livestreamed briefing with Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia on Tuesday.
He added that although transmission lines had been physically repaired, the system was still unable to deliver electricity due to unexpected “major technical challenges,” leaving four of Aceh’s hardest-hit regencies, namely Central Aceh, Bener Meriah, Aceh Tamiang and Gayo Lues, in partial darkness.
While administrative centers in the four regencies have been reconnected, overall power supply in Aceh remains insufficient, and Banda Aceh continues to experience rolling blackouts.
Read also: Death strikes stranded evacuees in isolated Sumatra shelters
Darmawan apologized and clarified PLN’s previous claim that Aceh had been 93 percent re-electrified, a figure announced by Minister Bahlil during a visit to Bireuen on Sunday and reportedly relayed to President Prabowo Subianto, who was told the province would be fully powered that night.
