Power supply back to normal in Jakarta: PLN

Power supply to Jakarta, West Java and Banten has returned to normal as the areas are receiving new supply from coal-fired PLTU Labuan power plant in Banten, public utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said on Tuesday.

On Monday, PLN imposed rotational blackout on the areas due to the drop in power supply as a result of repair works on its high voltage electricity tower in Sumedang, West Java.

The tower was hit by landslide, causing power transmission from power plants located in eastern areas of the island to the western areas (Jakarta, West Jawa and Banten) decreased by about 750MW while repair work could only be expected to complete on April 5, the company said in a statement. The company thus announced a five-day power outage for the areas.

However on Tuesday, PLN said there wasn?t power outage despite the repair works since it has sped up the maintenance works on PLTU Labuan.

It is also optimistic there won?t be power outage on Wednesday and the following days because many customers in those areas have voluntarily reduced their power consumption. Normally, power load in the three areas reach 13,500 during the day, however the load is declining to 13,000 MW.

?We very much thank and appreciate our customers for their participation in cutting power consumption during the repair works,? PLN said in a statement.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon