The Senayan area of Central Jakarta is dark against the background of buildings along Jl. Jendral Sudirman 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.
The date of 4 August 2019 becomes one of the grayest days in the world of electricity in the country. On that day and on the following day, there was a total power outage in most of the provinces of Jakarta, West Java and Banten at the same time.
The power outage for more than six hours left Jakarta and its buffer zones almost totally paralyzed. Almost all economic activities, from public transportation and industry to trade, were paralyzed. Paralysis even occurred in all activities and economic activities based on online technology, such as online transportation, e-commerce and social media. This was caused by the fact that the power outages also resulted in the shutdown of the internet networks of almost all network providers.
Therefore, it is very understandable for President Joko Widodo to be very disappointed with the incident.
The power outage in Jakarta became a major blow to Indonesia at a time when the government is aggressively campaigning for readiness in the face of the online technology-based Industrial Revolution 4.0 and is relying heavily on the readiness of the electricity sector. Moreover, the power outage occurred in the capital of the country, which is the face and front cover of the Indonesian state as a whole. Therefore, it is very understandable for President Joko Widodo to be very disappointed with the incident.
Even though state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has provided quite detailed technical information about this incident, there are still several important notes that have not been completely answered, especially concerning substantive issues related to the level of durability and sustainability of the electrical energy sources in Indonesia. PLN has explained that the main cause of the power outages in Jakarta, West Java and Banten was the disruption of the 500 kV extra-high voltage transmission system (SUTET) in Ungaran and Pemalang, Central Java. This transmission disruption took place because there was an overload of electricity, especially in Jakarta, Bekasi and Banten. This disruption resulted in the failure of energy transfer from east to west and was followed by trips in all power plants on the central and western sides of Java.
Apart from PT PLN\'s technical explanation regarding the disruption that caused the power outages in the western region of Java, Indonesia\'s electricity system, which already uses an interconnection system, apparently still has quite a risky weakness. With all its advantages, it turns out that the interconnection system has weaknesses that, if not handled properly, they can cause systemic disruption to the entire interconnection network.
Alternative energy sources
So far, the electricity used in Jakarta, West Java and Banten mainly comes from three power plants: in Suralaya (Cilegon) and Muara Karang, as well as from additional power plants in eastern Java. Electricity systems from the three regions have used interconnection networks so that when a disruption occurs in one of the plants, it can spread to other plants. The occurrence of power outages in the western region of Java is evidence of the vulnerability of the power interconnection system in Indonesia. Interconnection systems will be very risky if the source of electrical energy is very limited as it is now. At
present the main source of electricity for Jakarta, West Java and Banten are still the Suralaya, Muara Karang and East Java power plants. By relying only on these three sources, the power interconnection system in the western region of Java will automatically be very risky.
Until now, most of PLN\'s power generators still rely on fuel oil and coal that are not environmentally friendly and the price and supply are influenced by political economy stability.
Indonesia is very rich in energy sources, such as wind, water and solar power, but so far the country has only relied on non-renewable fossil energy for power sources. Until now, most of PLN\'s power generators still rely on fuel oil and coal that are not environmentally friendly and the price and supply are influenced by political economy stability.
With abundant energy resources, Indonesia should have a lot of electricity reserves. All regions should not only rely on limited resources, limited both in terms of quantity and output. Indonesia has the potential of generating 75 GW of hydropower (HPPS 1983). Of this potential, only about 4 GW has been utilized, about 5.3 percent. Similarly, the utilization of the potential of other energy sources such as solar and wind energy is far below potential.
The use of alternative energy sources does require a very large initial investment and this is the biggest obstacle in the midst of very limited state finances. However, the development of alternative energy sources must still be well planned because in the long run they can be far cheaper than fossil energy.
With various sources of electricity, Indonesia will have a very good level of energy diversification and Indonesia will certainly have more energy reserves that can increase overall national energy security.
The very high initial investment can actually be made through cooperation with the private sector. The government can open opportunities for private investment in the energy sector, especially renewable energy. The government must be able to offer high yields and incentives, considering that investment in this area has high risks.
Investment obstacles
Unfortunately, so far Indonesia is still known as a country that is less friendly to investment in energy. OECD data on the Regulatory Restrictiveness Index (RRI) proves that Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest regulatory constraints in the world, in the 44th rank out of 69 countries with an RRI FDI Index value of 0.31, far above the OECD state average of only 0.07. It is not surprising, therefore, that the performance of energy investment in Indonesia is still low.
The level of elasticity between the availability of electricity and Indonesia\'s economic growth in the last 10 years ranges from 0.5 to 1.6.
The 10,000 MW power plant construction project is a real example of this problem. Thus far the issue of land acquisition, synergistic regulation between the center and the regions and the synergy of policies between ministries and institutions are still issues that hinder the development of this very prestigious project. As a result, this project is still running in place, even though it is really needed to boost economic growth to the optimal point. The level of elasticity between the availability of electricity and Indonesia\'s economic growth in the last 10 years ranges from 0.5 to 1.6.
In other words, Indonesia needs additional electricity production on a large scale if it wants to accelerate economic growth. For every 1 percent of economic growth, the need for availability of electrical energy ranges from half to 1.6 times the economic growth.
The power outages in Jakarta, West Java and Banten on 4 August were only the tip of the iceberg, which still has substantial problems. Massive power blackouts can continue to recur if the substantial problems cannot be solved properly. The role of the private sector is to help solve this electricity problem, but of course the government must also guarantee their long-term legal certainty. Do not let short-term political instability influence the regulations and policies that have been made. If PLN is able to significantly increase its production, electricity reserves for the entire territory of Indonesia will be achieved and the problem of rolling blackouts and power outages like on 4 August 2019 will be resolved by itself.
Agus Herta Sumarto, Lecturer of the School of Economics and Business, Mercu Buana University and Researcher of Indef
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