ID :
12120
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 10:10
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/12120
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News Focus: POWER CUTS TO HIT JAKARTA AND ENVIRONS AS OF TOMORROW
By Eliswan AzlyJakarta, July 11 (ANTARA) - Power cuts to be imposed by the state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) will hit Greater Jakarta and Tangerang in Banten province as of Friday (July 11).
The two cities have scheduled rotating blackouts to overcome an acute shortage of power supply caused by a number of big power plants in the Java-Bali system undergoing maintenance and repair, the head of the Tangerang area, Azwar Lubis, said on Thursday.
"We apologize for the power cuts but the gas pipelines need repairs," Azwar Lubis said, adding that the alternate power cuts would mean a reduction of a total of 150 megawatts.
He said BP West Java as the operator of the gas pipelines had pledged to speed up the repair work so that the duration of the blackouts could be shortened.
The Indonesian capital in particular is now bracing for a power crisis this week, with rotating blackouts in Jakarta and Tangerang for example from Friday (July 11) for a two-week period.
Based on the schedule on PLN website, the rotating blackouts will occur from 08:00 to 15:00 and from 15:00 to 22:00. The blackouts are caused by a drop in capacity of the power plants in Paiton, Suralaya and Cilacap, which normally provide 7.700 MW to the to Java-Bali power grid.
PLN President Director Fahmi Mochtar said the disruption in gas supplies to the Tanjung Priok and Muara Karang power plants in Jakarta was caused by the supplier, BP West Java, was conducting maintenance work at its central station for two weeks.
The power supplier, which enjoys a monopoly, can generate up to 24,000 MW daily, but its daily output is well below capacity due to aging and inefficient power plants. The result is frequent outages in parts of Java, Bali and Sumatra.
To cope with the power crisis, economist Umar Juoro of the Jakarta-based Centre for Information and Development Studies said the government should eradicate the monopoly by allowing the private sector to build power plants to meet the energy needs of the consumers. "PLN alone is not able to provide all these energy needs."However the blackouts could also affect Indonesia's efforts to draw foreign investment, and there has been fears that some of the 400 Japanese companies ioperating in Indonesia may move to China because of the energy crisis in the country.
According to Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association, a group of Japanese investors recently wrote a letter to the government and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) saying that they had lost 48 billion rupiah (S$7 million) in the past two weeks due to power supply disruptions in regions outside Jakarta.
'They are asking for a government guarantee for secured electricity supply, while wondering how long this power crisis is going to last. They are bleeding by the day because of the outages,' he said.
The 2-week rotating blackouts in Jakarta and Tangerang starting form Friday (July 11) will last eight hours each day.
Meanwhile, businesses in Jakarta and Tangerang are bracing for billion-rupiah losses. While many have their own power generators, these are not enough to meet their needs for energy.
"Factories in Tangerang may suffer a loss of 2 billion to 3 billion rupiah a day, while operators of textile factories, which rely heavily on electricity may also suffer great losses. They will lose 300 million to 700 million rupiah for every eight hours of blackout," Sofyan said.
"It will cost them dearly if they fail to fulfil their contracts when they are not able to produce their goods in time because of the rotating blackouts," he continued.
In the meantime, a Japanese lobby group in Indonesia, backed by the Japanese Embassy, has lodged a protest with the Indonesian government and the state-owned power utility over the recent spade of blackouts.
In its recent written complaint to the government, the Jakarta Japan Club (JJC) said the frequent blackouts were likely to have "substantial effects on the future business of the companies" in Indonesia.
According to a JJC survey by its 414 members across the country, conducted between May 25 and June 13, about 42 companies had suffered accumulated losses of Rp 41 billion (US$4.444 million) because of the frequent blackouts.
JJC chairman Seiji Komuro said the power cuts had led to defects in products and damage to production facilities, mainly in chemical plants, tire manufacturing and precision part factories.
"The total damage and costs include costs for rebooting production lines and additional labor costs for companies operating in Indonesia," Komuro said.
He said the group conducted the survey because it could not get a clear official clarification on the blackouts. "Our members complained because they could not receive appropriate prior information about the power cuts." "And this has had substantial adverse effects on their businesses."The survey found that businesses had experienced an average three days of blackouts, with a maximum of six days. It (the survey) also revealed that in 70 out of 112 cases, the businesses experienced power cuts without prior notification, causing sudden halts to production processes.
The two cities have scheduled rotating blackouts to overcome an acute shortage of power supply caused by a number of big power plants in the Java-Bali system undergoing maintenance and repair, the head of the Tangerang area, Azwar Lubis, said on Thursday.
"We apologize for the power cuts but the gas pipelines need repairs," Azwar Lubis said, adding that the alternate power cuts would mean a reduction of a total of 150 megawatts.
He said BP West Java as the operator of the gas pipelines had pledged to speed up the repair work so that the duration of the blackouts could be shortened.
The Indonesian capital in particular is now bracing for a power crisis this week, with rotating blackouts in Jakarta and Tangerang for example from Friday (July 11) for a two-week period.
Based on the schedule on PLN website, the rotating blackouts will occur from 08:00 to 15:00 and from 15:00 to 22:00. The blackouts are caused by a drop in capacity of the power plants in Paiton, Suralaya and Cilacap, which normally provide 7.700 MW to the to Java-Bali power grid.
PLN President Director Fahmi Mochtar said the disruption in gas supplies to the Tanjung Priok and Muara Karang power plants in Jakarta was caused by the supplier, BP West Java, was conducting maintenance work at its central station for two weeks.
The power supplier, which enjoys a monopoly, can generate up to 24,000 MW daily, but its daily output is well below capacity due to aging and inefficient power plants. The result is frequent outages in parts of Java, Bali and Sumatra.
To cope with the power crisis, economist Umar Juoro of the Jakarta-based Centre for Information and Development Studies said the government should eradicate the monopoly by allowing the private sector to build power plants to meet the energy needs of the consumers. "PLN alone is not able to provide all these energy needs."However the blackouts could also affect Indonesia's efforts to draw foreign investment, and there has been fears that some of the 400 Japanese companies ioperating in Indonesia may move to China because of the energy crisis in the country.
According to Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association, a group of Japanese investors recently wrote a letter to the government and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) saying that they had lost 48 billion rupiah (S$7 million) in the past two weeks due to power supply disruptions in regions outside Jakarta.
'They are asking for a government guarantee for secured electricity supply, while wondering how long this power crisis is going to last. They are bleeding by the day because of the outages,' he said.
The 2-week rotating blackouts in Jakarta and Tangerang starting form Friday (July 11) will last eight hours each day.
Meanwhile, businesses in Jakarta and Tangerang are bracing for billion-rupiah losses. While many have their own power generators, these are not enough to meet their needs for energy.
"Factories in Tangerang may suffer a loss of 2 billion to 3 billion rupiah a day, while operators of textile factories, which rely heavily on electricity may also suffer great losses. They will lose 300 million to 700 million rupiah for every eight hours of blackout," Sofyan said.
"It will cost them dearly if they fail to fulfil their contracts when they are not able to produce their goods in time because of the rotating blackouts," he continued.
In the meantime, a Japanese lobby group in Indonesia, backed by the Japanese Embassy, has lodged a protest with the Indonesian government and the state-owned power utility over the recent spade of blackouts.
In its recent written complaint to the government, the Jakarta Japan Club (JJC) said the frequent blackouts were likely to have "substantial effects on the future business of the companies" in Indonesia.
According to a JJC survey by its 414 members across the country, conducted between May 25 and June 13, about 42 companies had suffered accumulated losses of Rp 41 billion (US$4.444 million) because of the frequent blackouts.
JJC chairman Seiji Komuro said the power cuts had led to defects in products and damage to production facilities, mainly in chemical plants, tire manufacturing and precision part factories.
"The total damage and costs include costs for rebooting production lines and additional labor costs for companies operating in Indonesia," Komuro said.
He said the group conducted the survey because it could not get a clear official clarification on the blackouts. "Our members complained because they could not receive appropriate prior information about the power cuts." "And this has had substantial adverse effects on their businesses."The survey found that businesses had experienced an average three days of blackouts, with a maximum of six days. It (the survey) also revealed that in 70 out of 112 cases, the businesses experienced power cuts without prior notification, causing sudden halts to production processes.
