PLN installs new transformer to prevent blackouts

Rangga D. Fadillah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/15/2010 11:30 AM | Business
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State electricity company PT PLN on Tuesday officially began operating a new transformer at the Gandul power plant in Depok to improve the security of electricity supply for Greater Jakarta following a recent series of blackouts.

PLN Java and Bali operational director Ngurah Adnyana said the installation of the 500 megavolt-ampere transformer would enable the company to more flexibly take on the load of other power plants without disrupting electricity supply.

“The new transformer will reduce fuel consumption at the Kembangan power plant in West Jakarta by up to 15,000 kiloliters per month, or around Rp 50.4 billion [US$5.54 million] in value,” he said.

The transformer was the second of five new transformers the company plans to install to support the electricity grid on Java and Bali. The first transformer was
installed in Bekasi, West Java, last month, Ngurah explained, adding that the third and fourth transformers in Cibatu, West Java, and Cilegon, Banten province, were expected to start operation before Christmas this year.

“The final transformer will be built at the Kembangan power plant. We are awaiting the delivery of the transformer [from China],” he said.

To build the new transformer in Gandul, Ngurah said the company spent Rp 195 billion since the project began in 2008.

PLN has been under fire after a series of blackouts due to exploding transformers at the Kembangan and Muara Karang power plants recently. The company gave assurances that there would be no more power outages after it finished repairing the transformers.

By year-end, the company says, it would add 1,130 megawatts of capacity to the Java and Bali grids with the operation of three new power stations in Indramayu in West Java, Labuan in Banten and Muara Karang in North Jakarta.

The company also announced it would serve new connections for businesses and industries in Greater Jakarta on Wednesday. The capacity of the new connections will reach 1,025 megawatts.

PLN business and risk management director Murtaqi Syamsuddin, who also attended the launch of the new transformer, said that as of today, the company had booked 2,250 new business customers who were ready to utilize the connections.

“There are several other firms on our waiting list. We hope we can provide them with new connections or additional capacity by March next year,” he said, adding that the presence of the five new transformers boosted PLN’s chances of success for this new plan.

Murtaqi said PLN was committed to serving every new connection installation request in a more transparent, faster and cheaper way.