No more power blackout, says PLN?s boss

President director of the state owned oil and gas company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) Eddie Widiono said on Monday that the power supply in Java and Bali had returned to normal thanks to additional supply of about 300 MW from Gresik, Tanjung Periok and Tambang Lorok power plants.

?Beginning today (Monday) there will be no more power blackout and we hope the condition will continue,? Eddi was quoted as saying by Kompas daily, adding that the additional supply of about 300 MW from the Gresik power plant in East Java, the Tanjung Priok power plant in Jakarta and the Tambak Lorok power plant in East Java had been able to cope with the shortage of the power supply in the Java and Bali power distribution grid.

Eddie hoped that the additional supply could be increased to 1,000 MW in June with the full operation of several power plants, which had been partly damaged due to technical problems.

PLN cut off power supply in some parts of Java and Bali last week due to technical problems suffered by the Gresik power plant in East Java and Muara Tawar power plant in West Java and the geothermal power plant in Gunung Salak, West Java. The shortage of the electricity supply had caused power blackout in some areas in Java and Bali

The technical problems in the two power plants had reduced the power supply in the Java and Bali transmission grid by 600 MW. During peak hours, the supply shortage reaches about 410 MW because the existing power plants are able only to provide supply of about 12,840 MW while the demand reaches about 13,250 MW. (*)