Paiton VIII power plant halts operation

Paition VIII power plant, one of major suppliers of the Java and Bali power transmission network, halted its operation on Tuesday due to a technical problem in its power generation unit, Koran Tempo reported on Wednesday.

General Manager of PLN's power traffic control department, Muljo Adji, the power supply from the Paiton VIII, which has a capacity of about 640 megawatt, was interrupted on Tuesday evening.

The cut in the power supply from the Paiton VIII had resulted in the shortage of power supply in the Java and Bali transmission network, Muljo said, adding that the incident had forced PLN to cut off the power supply in certain parts of East Java and Jakarta.

Paition VIII, which is located in East Java, is operated by Paition Eneergy Company.

A series of power supply interruptions have taken place within the last two weeks, causing a major shortage of power supply in Java and Bali.The National Intelligence Agency (BIN) has been asked to probe a possible sabotage in the power incidents, but no major findings had so far been announced.

Sources at BIN said that the agency had found an impropriety at the Suralaya power plant in Banten when a power blackout hit almost all parts of Java on Aug. 14. But there was no indication of sabotage in the incident. (*)