Power blackout caused by damages of several power plants: PLN

Power blackout in several parts of the country during the past two days has been caused by damages in some of state electricity company PLN's power plants rather than due to the construction of gas pipeline linked to the firm's Muara Karang power plant in North Jakarta, Koran Tempo reported on Wednesday.

PLN's director for power generation and primary energy Ali Herman admitted on Monday that the power blackout, which took place in some parts of Java on Monday, was caused by the damages in some of PLN's power plants.

Ali, however, refused to unveil which of the power plants that suffered technical problems.

PLN last week announced that there would be a power blackout rotation in some parts of Java and Bali during the period of between May 23 and June 6, this year, due to the construction of new gas pipeline linked to the Muara Karang plant, one of the country's major power plants.

According to the firm, the construction of the new gas pipeline has cut off the existing gas supply to the power plant, causing sharp decline in the power supply from the power plant. The Muara Karang power plant has been forced to use diesel oil during the construction of the gas pipeline. (*)