TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsLights out in Lombok as wild weather leaves island dark
Almost all of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), was in the dark on Wednesday night after heavy rains and strong winds led to power grid failures, an official has said
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A
lmost all of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), was in the dark on Wednesday night after heavy rains and strong winds led to power grid failures, an official has said.
Blackouts began after a circuit breaker (CCB) at the Ampenan diesel power station (PLTD) in Mataram, West Lombok, was struck by lightning around 8 p.m.
Public facilities, such as Lombok International Airport in Central Lombok and the popular tourist spots on Gili Trawangan Island in North Lombok, were affected, although power was quickly restored to the airport.
The power was out for almost three hours in Mataram, West Lombok, Central Lombok and North Lombok.
Meanwhile, the regency of East Lombok was unaffected.
“The power suddenly went out on Wednesday night due to the weather, which is very unpredictable,” Ali Akbar, general manager of state-owned electricity company PT PLN’s Lombok office, said on
Thursday in Mataram.
“The circuit breaker was hit by lightning. We managed to settle the problem and restore power in the area by replacing the circuit breaker,” Ali said.
The weather and safety concerns delayed repairs. “Within the first 15 minutes, electricity was restored to the airport and [Gili] Trawangan. Then we gradually restored power throughout Lombok Island in around two to three
hours.”
“Some regions might face blackouts again. It’s merely because our interconnected network was disrupted by the heavy downpour and high winds. The main power station is alright,” he added.
PLTD Ampenan supplies electricity to Lombok along with a coal-fired power station (PLTU) in West Lombok and PLTD Paok Motong in East Lombok. The stations generate 175 megawatts (MW), while peak load for the area is 160 MW.
Wild weather has repeatedly disrupted PLN’s network system since mid-January, Ali said.
“Fallen trees sometimes also damage the power lines, causing an outage.”
Ali said that PLN was working with the local parks and spatial planning agencies in the island’s five regencies to trim big trees along the roads.
This, however, has sometimes been met by objections from the residents who own the trees.
“In many cases, the residents demand compensation for the tree pruning. And the amount of money demanded is very unreasonable. This has been an issue for us,” he said.
