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 (6/24/2007) Bali balances on the precipice of large scale brown-outs
following malfunctions at a 5 major power generating stations in
Java. Those malfunctions have left Bali facing a potential power
deficit of 500 megawatts and prompted National Electrical Board (PLN)
officials to ask consumers to reduce power consumption between the
hours of 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m..
As an additional precautionary step, PLN has asked hotels with stand
by power to use their systems to reduce the drain on limited power
supplies.
The power deficit – traced to mechanical malfunctions or a lack of
fuel supplies at power plants in Cilegon, Suralaya, Muara Tawar,
Cilacap and Paiton – made itself first felt on Wednesday, June 20,
2007 and caught Indonesia's Minister of Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro
completely unaware. When asked about the power deficit by the
Indonesian daily Bisnis Indonesia, Purnomo claimed he had not been
informed of the major deficit in the Jawa-Bali power grid.
Bali PLN officials were working hard to avoid large scale power
outages in Bali, trying to maximize the use of an estimated 200
megawatts of hidden reserve at Bali hotels with back-up power
generating systems.
While it is not clear how long Bali's power supply will remain in a
precarious position, there was some good news in the midst of the
latest electrical crisis as the Asian Development Bank and World
Bank have just agreed to make funds available for a five year plan
to add 10,000 megawatts in power generation to the Java-Bali power
grid. |