“After dark, there goes light”
269 million population in Indonesia. Powered with one source of electricity, centered in Jakarta. Is it effective?
It is August 4th, 2019, around 12 P.M. Suddenly my vision went dark.
About an hour later, the most horrible thing happened, no internet.
Surely, half of Java Island got blackout.
I’ve waited for 6 hours, but still no signals.
When I woke up in the next morning,
there was electricity and internet,
and there were many “Blackout in Java Island” headline news.
Not because it’s the first time blackout in Java, but more likely because it took a very long time to re-boot the electricity system.
And resulting in many victims.
Even, Jokowi as President of Indonesia rebuked the President Director of PLN, a government-owned electricity corporation, which has just been appointed as President Director for only 2 days.
So, back to the earlier question.
Is it really effective to run a massive power system from one place?
Najwa Shihab has been discussed this topic in her Youtube channel with expertises in electrical field, along with Minister.
At one point, Tri Mumpuni – the electric woman – thought that the current power system of PLN is not effective.
It is too massive for PLN to distribute and maintain electricity in the whole Indonesia.
As you may notice, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago,
so if blackout happened in Kalimantan Island,
and the center of PLN is in Java Island,
it would take 2 hours in flight to get there.
Also, it costs a lot of money.
“Why there is no PLN in every provinces? It would be a lot easier to manage the electricity“, said Tri Mumpuni in discussion with Najwa Shihab.
To be honest, Indonesia has many alternatives energy resources,
for example, it is said that Indonesia has a potentially massive geothermal energy,
third largest in the world,
but only about 5% has been used for electricity.
The electricity system in Indonesia might be different from the US.
In Indonesia, every electrical power generated needs to be sold to PLN,
then PLN will distribute it to houses
while in the US, everyone in their home could generate their own electrical power, resulting in a more expensive tariff per kWh.
Monopoly and political system in Indonesia makes electricity from coal is one of a crucial economy source.
Rather than investing in geothermal powerplant for 7 years,
which is high risk in failure and expensive,
surely, investors choose coals…
But there is another renewable energy resource,
solar panel,
well, it may be expensive to invest at first,
but it is worth it,
and many “green investors” start to invest on solar panel.
If I’m an investor, I’d like to choose solar panel
rather than coal,
the non-renewable energy,
consider about GHG emission released from burning the coals,
the un-liveable land around the coal mines,
about the inhabitant’s feelings,
about the air and water quality in the area,
and think about the future..
of Indonesia.
The new capital city of Indonesia has been announced,
it is on the East Kalimantan,
and not far from there,
there are coal mines with un-liveable lands on surroundings.
It is your choice as an investor,
to choose which one will be profitable in the next 25 years.
References
CNN Indonesia. 2019. Jokowi: Ibu Kota Baru di Kalimantan Timur. Retrieved from CNN Indonesia: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190826115726-32-424625/jokowi-ibu-kota-baru-di-kalimantan-timur (31 August, 2019)
United States Energy Information Administration. 2015. Indonesia Has Significant Potential to Increase Geothermal Electricity Production. Retrieved from USEI: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=23392 (30 August, 2019).
pic source: Google
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