Power Blackout Needs Special Attention
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Passengers await an MRT train at Bundaran HI Station, Central Jakarta, during a blackout on Sunday (4/8/2019). The major power outage that hit Jakarta and its surrounding area disrupted transportation and economic activities for millions of residents.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The power outages in Jakarta, Banten, parts of West Java and Central Java, began around 11:50 a.m. on Sunday. However, since 6:30 p.m., the electricity in some areas was gradually restored again. The recovery of the power supply did not take place simultaneously.
The massive power blackout occurred due to faulty circuits on the transmission circuit in the Ungaran and Pemalang power line with a capacity of 500 kilovolts (KV). The transmission problem disrupted the power supply from east to west, resulting in the interruption of the power supply from all power plants in central and western parts of Java.
This caused outages in almost all areas of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Greater Jakarta), as well as parts of West Java and Central Java. The outage did not affect East Java and Bali, which receive power from the Java-Bali interconnection network. The power outage paralyzed the activities of residents as it disrupted the services of a number of public facilities. Jabodetabek commuter trains and integrated modes in Jakarta could not be operated. Around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, the MRT was back in operation.
The KRL trip was stopped due to the power outage and a number of passengers were forced to get off the train and walked to their destination. Passengers waiting at the station were allowed to cancel their trip ticket through the ticket window. PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) later confirmed that all KRL trips were stopped due to power outages.
From social media monitoring, power outages also disrupted payments on toll roads. A number of people tweeted and uploaded photos paying the toll with cash because they could not use electronic cards. The @Fangeg account, for example, says, "Toll payment back to cash because the electricity is off". On Twitter, hashtags about power outages became a hot topic and were discussed with #matilampu, #matilrikrik, #listrikpadam and #blackout.
On the contrary, on Sunday, the operation of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in Tangerang, Banten, was normal. Febri Toga Simatupang, the senior manager of the Branch of Communication and Legal Affairs at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, said that the electricity system at the airport was supplied by four electricity substations from state owned electricity company PLN, then distributed to the main energy system owned by PT Angkasa Pura II.
The power outages also affected telecommunications services. Director General of Post and Information Technology at of Communication and Information Ministry Ahmad M Ramli said the power outage disrupted the management of transmission devices. A backup power source can last a few hours. If a power outage occurs for a long time, it will have a serious impact on the transmission of cellular telecommunications services.
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People queue to buy water from a tank truck at a water refill base in the Kemandoran area, Central Jakarta, during a blackout on Sunday (4/8/2019). The major power outage that hit Jakarta and its surrounding area disrupted activities for millions of residents.
Power outages also disrupted the piped water supply in Jakarta, as acknowledged by the executives of PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), the operator of clean water supply and services for western Jakarta. "Palyja apologizes for the interruption in clean water supply caused by the power outages throughout the Greater Jakarta area," said Palyja’s head of communication and corporate social responsibility, Lydia Astriningworo, Sunday.
In Bandung, West Java, Sunday, the power blackout also affected traffic. Congestion occurred on a number of roads as traffic lights were not functional. About 270 officers were mobilized to manage the traffic. The head of the Bandung police traffic unit, Commissioner Bayu Catur Prabowo, said that congestion occurred in most of the main roads due to the power outage. For example, the outage caused a traffic jam of more than 1 kilometer at the exit of the Pasteur Toll Road. During weekends, Bandung as a popular tourist destination was crowded by visitors. "The streets of Bandung were all crowded. The traffic signal blackout also made the congestion even worse on busy roads such as Jalan RE Martadinata, Jalan Merdeka and Jalan Asia Afrika," Bayu said.
The MRT service was restored on Sunday around 20:00. Previously, since 11:50 a.m., the MRT train stopped operating due to a power outage. M Kamaluddin, the head of the corporate secretary division of PT MRT Jakarta, explained that the Jakarta MRT service had resumed its service as soon as the electricity supply was resumed.
Apologize
In a press conference in Jakarta, Sunday afternoon, acting president director of PLN (Persero), Sripeni Inten Cahyani, explained that the electricity in Jakarta areas was restored on Sunday at 7:27 p.m. For the West Java and Banten regions, the power supply would return to normal one or two hours afterward.
He said, at 4:27 p.m., electricity from East Java entered PLN’s Load Control Center (P2B) Gandul village, Cinere district, Depok City, West Java. "If it goes well, all electricity supply in Jakarta will be normal three hours after the flow reaches the P2B. West Java and Banten will be normal after four hours," said Sripeni in Depok.
The electricity from Gandul also entered Suralaya hydroelectric power plant and Muara Karang power plant. From Muara Karang, said Sripeni, it took about two hours to distribute the electricity throughout the Jakarta area. From Suralaya, electricity supplies need more time to flow to Legok, Balaraja, and Banten. According to Sripeni, disruption also occurred in the SUTET high transmission system with a capacity of 500 KV so that the electricity supply to a number of areas in West Java were cut off, such as Bandung, Bekasi, Cianjur, Cimahi, Cirebon, Garut, Karawang, Purwakarta, Majalaya, Sumedang, Tasikmalaya, Depok, Gunung Putri, Sukabumi, and Bogor.
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A volunteer directs traffic at an intersection on the Permata Hijau Arterial Road, Jl. Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, during a blackout on Sunday (4/8/2019). The major power outage that hit Jakarta and its surrounding area disrupted transportation and economic activities for millions of residents.
Separately, PLN’s executive vice president for corporate communication and CSR, I Made Suprateka, said the power outages were overcome by the Load Management Services Unit (UP2B), which used the normal load setting to minimize widespread power outages. PLN also restored the broken ground steel wire (GSW) cables, revived gas turbines in Surabaya, and monitors similar GSW conditions to improve the system so that the supply could return to normal immediately.
"We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the blackout. We continue to put the services back to normal. Some substations have started to resume the power supply," Made added. Sripeni apologized to the community for the blackout. As an electricity regulator, the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, was asked to investigate electricity disruptions on Sunday. The investigation could produce inputs for improvements to the electricity system, including potential network vulnerability and projected increases in load. "Risk can be minimized, if the cause of the blackout can be identified, both technical and non-technical," said the executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) Fabby Tumiwa in Jakarta, Sunday night.
Investigations must be able to uncover the causes of the failure of the electric system which led to the power blackout in a number of areas. This can happen in all systems in the world. A system is designed for blackouts to avoid greater impact. The cause of power outages still needs to be identified in detail so that it will not happen again in the future.
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Dahniar, the owner of the Putri Ulakan Padang restaurant at Jl. Haji Kelikmer, Jakarta, serves customers at her food stall during a blackout on Sunday (4/8/2019). Dahniar claimed that buyers flocked to her restaurant because they were reluctant to cook and wash to save water at home after power outages hit the city.
Moreover, according to Kompas Research and Development data, power outages in the Java-Bali network have often occurred. The blackout occurred because of equipment damage or other reasons. In 1991, for example, electricity in the Java and Bali regions was affected by damage to the circuit breaker that exploded. The widespread blackouts also occurred in 1992, 1997, 2002, 2005, and 2008. In the last 10 years, the most widespread power outages were only this year.
The power outages also caused instability in electricity supply from the Jatiluhur hydroelectric power plant which is connected to the PLN Grid. This was acknowledged by the director of operations of Perum Jasa Tirta II Antonius Aris.
(MEL/RTG/SEM/COK/DIM/ARN/KRN/HLN/ART/JOG/MED/IDR)
