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NTT pushes to optimize use of renewable energy to meet 2019 power target
East Nusa Tenggara is striving to reach its 90 percent electrification target this year by optimizing the use of its renewable energy resources.
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Using heat to cool: A solar panel powers a cooling system in a fishing community on Maratua Island in Berau regency, East Kalimantan. (JP/Syafrizaldi)
T
he East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration plans to optimize the use of renewable energy resources to ensure that all people in the province have access to electricity, especially those who live in rural areas.
NTT Energy Resources Agency head Paul Kedang said that the provincial administration had been working for the past decade to optimize the use of its renewable energy resources, including solar energy, bioenergy and marine energy.
“NTT is among the provinces that lack access to fossil fuels. What we do have access to, however, are seven renewable energy resources that have yet to be optimized,” Paul said on Nov. 23 at a seminar on renewable energy resources in Kupang.
With optimal use, the province's renewable energy resources could collectively generate 23,812.5 megawatts (MW) of electricity, he added.
“So far, we’ve only managed to generate 29.23 MW. So only 0.12 percent of renewable energy resources in the province have been fully optimized,” he said.
He said that the province’s electrification rate paled in comparison to that of other provinces in the country, but stressed that NTT expected to meet its 90 percent electrification target by the yearend from 84 percent at present.
“We believe that we can meet the target,” Paul said. The NTT administration had also been improving the province’s electrification rate by accelerating the development of electric power infrastructure in several villages.
