Indonesia Energy Ministry: Strengthening Electricity Reliability in Eastern Indonesia, Flores Electric Toll Road Along 864 kms Operates

The construction of the 864 kilometer circuit (kms) electric toll road is officially operational in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. This electricity connection stretches from Labuan Bajo to Maumere at a cost of IDR 1.1 trillion.

“The connection to the electricity toll road was completed by PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) on Friday (30 July 2021) yesterday,” said the Head of the Communication, Public Information Services and Cooperation Bureau (KLIK) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Agung Pribadi in Jakarta, Saturday (31/31/2020). 7).

According to Agung, the presence of the electricity toll road is a form of government commitment, cq PLN, in strengthening electricity reliability and increasing the electrification ratio in Eastern Indonesia. “We are seriously improving the quality of electricity in Eastern Indonesia. Hopefully this electricity infrastructure can attract investors to improve the local economy,” he continued.

Meanwhile, PLN’s Regional Business Director for Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua and Nusa Tenggara, Syamsul Huda said that the current condition of the Flores Island electricity system has a capacity of 104.1 Megawatts (MW), with a peak load to serve customers a total of 71.6 MW. .

So far, from a total of 104.1 MW of power plants in Flores, they are separated into 2 systems, namely the West Flores System and the East Flores System. The West Flores system has a total generating capacity of 40.7 MW, including 23 MW Rangko PLTMG and 3.4 MW Golobilas PLTD in Labuan Bajo, 10 MW Ulumbu PLTP, 2.2 MW Faobata Bajawa PLTD in Manggarai Regency and other power plants.

Meanwhile, the East Flores System has a total capacity of 63.4MW, with power plants including: Ndungga PLTMH 2 MW, Wewaria PLTS 1 MW, Mautapaga PLTD 3 MW, Ropa PLTU 14 MW in Ende, and Waeblerer PLTS 1 MW, Wolomarang PLTD 3 MW and PLTMG Maumere 40 MW in Sikka Regency.

Previously, the West Flores System had limited reserves, so it was easy to run a deficit if there was a disturbance from one of the large power plants. Meanwhile, the East Flores System has sufficient reserves. By combining the two systems, the backup becomes highly sufficient and more reliable. In addition, with a larger combined system, it will make the system more efficient and can reduce operating costs by around 3-4%.

Huda added, to support supply reliability, the Flores system has operated 11 substations with a capacity of 225 MVA and transmission lines along the 864 kms transmission line consisting of 1,319 tower sites spread throughout Flores Regency. Lastly, the Aesesa Substation in Nagekeo Regency, which was energized on June 4, 2021.

“We believe electricity is the energy that drives life and plays an important role in improving people’s quality of life. PLN will continue to expand access to electricity and improve its reliability,” said Huda in a PLN release, Friday (30/7).

The Struggle to Build the Flores Electricity Toll Road

During the construction period, geographical conditions made it difficult for the construction of the Flores electricity toll road. PLN has been building the Flores electricity toll road since 2006 starting from the licensing process, surveying the location of the tower site, sampling the soil test, drawing up design drawings to land acquisition for the tower footprint along the transmission line from Labuan Bajo to Maumere.

With diverse geographical conditions ranging from flat land, plantations, agriculture, forest areas, hills, valleys, it is quite difficult to work on the construction of tower footprint foundations, tower assembly to liberation of transmission wire lines and withdrawal of 70 kV SUTT transmission.

“The main obstacle faced in the field apart from land acquisition for the tower footprint is also geographical challenges during the construction process, such as bringing in materials for both foundation construction, tower installation, and cable pulling process, because access to reach the location is still done by maximizing human labor and the best methods,” he said. simple,” said Huda.

During the last one year with the Covid-19 pandemic conditions, the entire team continued to struggle to carry out their duties and responsibilities even though movement and field activities had limitations because they had to adjust to health protocols.

“The pandemic has clearly had an impact, but PLN’s enthusiasm to illuminate the country has not subsided,” concluded Huda.