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Huge Indonesian Blackout

Jakarta: Electricity was on Monday morning beginning to return to parts of Jakarta, more than eight hours after a massive power failure hit the Indonesian capital and surrounding cities, potentially affecting more than 30 million people.

But large sections of the capital remained in darkness into the morning – as did some nearby cities – as authorities scrambled to restore electricity services.

In some areas of south, east and west Jakarta, power returned for two or three hours from 8pm before shutting down again after 11pm.

The state electricity company PLN has said it hoped to restore power by midnight but that did not look likely.

The massive power failure raises fresh questions about the quality and reliability of Indonesia’s electricity network, and the need to diversify the energy sources it currently relies on.

Indonesia’s electricity network relies heavily on coal-fired power plants and more are being constructed, whereas the uptake of renewable energy sources such as solar power is very low.

The Atrium shopping mall in Jakarta, which has been left without power during the blackout.
The Atrium shopping mall in Jakarta, which has been left without power during the blackout.CREDIT:TWITTER

The term #matilampu (power failure) was trending on social media as citizens who were able to connect to the internet vented their frustrations.

State electricity company PLN said the outage began at 11.50am local time (2.50pm AEST) when gas turbine seven at its Suralaya plant shut down.

State electricity company PLN said the outage began at 11.50am local time (2.50pm AEST) when gas turbine seven at its Suralaya plant shut down.

Gas turbines 1-6 were then tripped and shut down too and the company’s gas turbine plant at Cilegon also then shut down.

Jakarta’s train system and its underground metro rail, the MRT, also stopped working because of the power failure.

Traffic lights stopped working across much of Jakarta and traffic jams quickly developed at intersections across the capital’s already crowded streets.

The outage has affected the entire Greater Jakarta region – known as Jabodetabek, which is a portmanteau of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi – and which is home to about 30 million people.

It also extends to parts of the neighbouring provinces of West Java and Central Java.

West Java and Central Java are home to millions more people and in many areas, power has still not returned and is not expected to come back online until close to midnight as the state-owned power company has prioritised Jakarta.

Major phone networks including Telkomsel, XL and Indosat have also worked only intermittently.

I Made Suprateka, the executive vice-president Corporate Communication for PLN, said the company “apologises profusely for the blackout that has occurred, right now we are continuing to normalise [the situation]”.

“We promise to make and exert every effort to improve the system so that electricity returns to normal,” I Made said.

The disruption of a 500 kV transmission line in West Java had made the situation worse, he said.

PLN released a second statement a few hours after their first again apologising for the situation, saying the blackouts occurred due to disruptions on the transmission side of the system.

This resulted in the energy transfer from east to west failing and was followed by trips across all power plants on the central and western sides of Java.

“Once again we apologise and understand all customers affected by this disturbance, we promise to make and exert every effort to improve the system so that electricity returns to normal,” the statement said.

Other than Jakarta, the full list of cities and regions affected by the outage includes Bandung, Bekasi, Cianjur, Cimahi, Cirebon, Garut, Karawang, Purwakarta, Majalaya, Sumedang, Tasikmalaya, Depok, Gunung Putri, Sukabumi and Bogor.

It is not clear if a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Friday night off the coast of Java, which killed five people, had had any role in disrupting electricity supply.

Social media was buzzing with complaints of disruption due to the blackout – from traffic jams to the inability to process digital payments and other online services.

Commuters were evacuated from the main train lines as passengers throng stations waiting for the trains to start operating. Buses were still operating but only accepting cash payments as digital payments are not working.

The acting managing director of Indonesia Power, Sripeni Inten Cahyani, had told Kumparan.com that it was hoped the outage would be over by midnight, saying the priority was to restore electricity supply to Jakarta.

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