Electricity and Fuel Supplies Guaranteed

State-owned electricity company PLN has guaranteed a sufficient supply of electric power for Idul Fitri needs. Likewise the supply of fuel as consumption is predicted to rise.

KOMPAS/KRISTIAN OKA PRASETYADI

Field officers took part in an electricity alert in preparation for Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr, Wednesday (5/4/2023), at the PLN Jakarta Head Office..

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — After checking the reliability of each power generation unit, transmission network and distribution network, PLN has guaranteed a sufficient supply of electricity during Ramadan and Idul Fitri 2023. At the same time the amount of fuel for homebound travelers, which is predicted to increase drastically, is also ensured to be safe.

President director of PLN, Darmawan Prasodjo, said that the national electricity peak load would drop from around 44 gigawatts (GW) to 29.57 GW. This was in line with the decline in activities in industry and offices. The peak load of 29.57 GW increased 5.36 percent from last year, but the power supply of all power plants reached 46.26 GW.

"This means that in preparation for Idul Fitri this time, the electricity supply is far greater than the peak load so conditions are safe. We have set an electricity alert period for 15-29 April 2023," said Darmawan after leading the Ramadan and Idul Fitri Electricity Standby Briefing at the PLN head office in Jakarta, on Wednesday (5/4/2023).

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Electricity demand will be concentrated in the Jamali region (Java, Madura and Bali) with a total peak load of 25.61 GW. This is about four times greater than the demand on the entire mainland of Sumatra, which is 6.37 GW. The Ternate electricity system area, North Maluku, gets the smallest peak load, which is 0.04 MW.

The security of electricity supply is ensured by the availability of primary energy sources for generators, especially coal-fired power plants. After experiencing a scarcity of coal supply in early 2022, coal stocks per day at various power plants now hold the equivalent to the needs for 20 days.

"Our team is very tough and agile. Corrective action was immediately taken. All transmission lines have been given maintenance and confirmed to be in a safe condition. We have also prepared the distribution, it is in a safe condition," said Darmawan.

All transmission lines have been given maintenance and confirmed to be in a safe condition.

Darmawan also asked the PLN team to be on hand to ensure that the power supply was not interrupted until the end of the Ramadan and Idul Fitri holidays. The number of homebound travelers this year is expected to jump 44.7 percent from 85.5 million people to 123.5 million people.

For this purpose, PLN has prepared 81,690 personnel consisting of 20,130 employees and the rest are from company partners. PLN will also set up 2,250 electricity standby posts. In addition, 616 charging stations for public electric vehicles (EVs) are also provided at 237 points throughout Indonesia to serve homebound EV travelers.

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

A line of motorbikes that want to refuel at the Pertamina gas station, in Tebet Barat, Jakarta, Tuesday (3/1/2023). PT Pertamina has guaranteed adequate fuel oil (BBM) needs during the 2023 Idul Fitri holiday period.

Fuel supply

Meanwhile, state oil company PT Pertamina has also guaranteed adequate fuel oil (BBM) needs during the 2023 Idul Fitri holiday period. In fact, the company has set a much longer standby period than PLN, namely 1 April until 2 May 2023.

Irto Ginting, corporate secretary of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, a subsidiary of Pertamina thais involved in fuel distribution, said there would be an increase in gasoline consumption by 10 percent, aviation fuel by around 7 percent and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) by 3 percent. On the other hand, the need for diesel fuel has actually decreased by 8 percent because heavy transportation does not operate during the homebound traffic and return traffic seasons.

We will work closely with various stakeholders so that the distribution process runs optimally.

"We have prepared the distribution volume in accordance with the calculation of public consumption projections. To support this need, we continue to maintain stocks at a safe level," he said.

In general, fuel stocks will be focused on the main homebound traffic routes, as well as around toll road sections. In addition, tourist sites are also a focus. "From the start, our task force has established stocks of fuel, LPG and avtur. We will work closely with various stakeholders so that the distribution process runs optimally," he said.

After an explosion at the Dumai Refinery Unit (RU) II in Riau, deputy president commissioner of Pertamina, Pahala Nugraha Mansury, stated that the RU VI Balongan Refinery in Indramayu, West Java, would supply fuel to the Plumpang Terminal in Jakarta. Every day, the volume of distribution reaches 3,185 kiloliters to meet the fuel needs of Jakarta, West Java and the surrounding areas.

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According to Pahala, fuel use has decreased somewhat, but gas stations on the homebound traffic route are ensured to be on standby 24 hours a day. "Pertamina has also prepared various service innovations during homebound season, such as tankers at public refueling stations [SPBU], motorbikes [distributing fuel by motorbikes] operating on toll roads, as well as modular gas stations placed in congestion-prone points and new routes," he said.

Pahala also guarantees the security of the fuel distribution infrastructure and information technology systems to operate it, especially at the Balongan refinery. "The system in Balongan has sufficient security, including the readiness of the control room so that it is ready to serve the production and supply chain of fuel for the Plumpang Terminal," he said.

Regional readiness

In West Java, executive general manager of Pertamina Patra Niaga for the West Java region, Deny Djukardi, said fuel consumption in West Java was expected to increase by 6 percent for gasoline types and decrease in diesel consumption by 11 percent. The resilience of gasoline stocks in West Java had reached 19 days and 18 days of gasoline and diesel, respectively.

"We have also prepared 1,646 gas stations, 584 pertashops [retail fuel shop], 1,544 subsidized LPG agents and more than 47,000 subsidized LPG bases [retailer]. The distribution agency remains on standby to operate to make it easier for the public to obtain fuel and LPG," said Deny in a press release on Wednesday.

As for West Sumatra, according to Freddy Anwar, executive general manager of Pertamina Patra Niaga for the North Sumatra region, there will be a spike in fuel and LPG consumption in the West Sumatra region seven days before Idul Fitri. Pertalite consumption is estimated to increase 29 percent to 2,331 kiloliters per day and Pertamax consumption to increase 53 percent to 459 kiloliters per day. "We are coordinating with the local administrations and apparatus to support smooth distribution," he said.

This article was translated by Kurnia Siswo.