Jakarta endures for 5-day rolling blackouts
Play
Residents of Jakarta will endure five days of blackouts this week, following damage to the extra high voltage power lines (Sutet) that supply electricity to the Indonesian capital.
State power firm PT PLN announced over the weekend that the company would be forced to instigate a series of blackouts in Jakarta and Tangerang, Banten, after a landslide damaged a 500-kilovolt-capacity Sutet in Sumedang, West Java. According to the PLN’s website, the power supplied from eastern Java to Jakarta and West Java decreased by 750 megawatts due to the incident.
“Therefore, we plan to apply the rotating blackouts from Monday to Friday,” PLN Jakarta chapter spokesman Riza Indrawan explained on Sunday.
The PLN will cut power for 12 hours a day from 9am. The company plans to divide it into four three-hour periods. The company called on residents to reduce the use of electricity at home or at work to help the company.
PLN spokesman Bambang Dwijayanto promised that the loadshedding would not affect vital facilities. “We will prioritise hospitals and public facilities so [the blackouts] won’t affect public services,” Bambang said.
The PLN will also optimise other power plants, including the Indramayu, Lontar Tangerang and Priok power plants, to assist in the supply of power to Jakarta and West Java.
Public facilities, small and medium-enterprises and households are among those affected by the blackouts, which are hitting most parts of the capital.
State-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital president director Czeresna Heriawan Soejono ensured that the power-cuts would not disrupt the hospital. “We will only be affected by the blackout for one night. Our power needs will be met by our generators,” he said.
