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Aug 22, 2017 by GE Reports Staff
Indonesia’s Lombok Island is renowned for its nutrient-rich seas. In addition to supporting a wide variety of marine life, the Lombok waters, and its sheltered bays, are ideal locations for pearl oyster farms.
To make use of the resources available, local farmer, Fauzi Se wanted to expand his business to include pearl farming and manufacturing jewelry. His expansion dream however, was cut down by energy limitations. Quite simply, the island did not generate enough energy to power his pearl farming equipment and machinery.
The farming and cultivation of pearls in Lombok is now viable thanks to additional energy provided by the new Mobile Power Plant. Illustration : Pearl Farming in Lombok / hasanlombok.blogspot.co.id
Se explained, “We had ordered additional equipment and machinery to harvest pearls, and create jewelry. However, when the tools and gear arrived, we discovered that due to limited electricity capacity in the region, we could not operate the machinery.”
Se’s “no power” situation is one shared by many Indonesians. As well as being the world’s fourth-most populous nation which brings energy generation capacity issues, communities are also spread far and wide across more than 18,000 islands, to make large-scale power grid development unfeasible in many parts.
“Light up” Indonesia
Given the vast energy gaps, supplying electricity to underserved rural communities was one of the priority pledges made by Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo when he was voted President of Indonesia in 2014. His ‘light up Indonesia’ goal was to increase power generation capacity by 70%, and supply electricity to up to 98% of Indonesia’s regions.
President Jokowi attended the first Mobile Power Plant ground-breaking ceremony in Mempawah, West Kalimantan.
President Jokowi tasked state utility, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to add 35 gigawatts (GW) of electrical capacity to the national grid by 2019. Step one involved the development, and launch of eight Mobile Power Plants (MPP) in several regions producing a total of 500 megawatts (MW).
Following a ground-breaking ceremony led by President Jokowi in early 2016, the eight MPPs were installed by PLN subsidiary, Bright PLN Batam within six months. The rapid development reinforces PLN’s commitment and support of the 35,000 GW acceleration program and the 99.7% electrification rate by 2019.
The new MPPs were installed in Air Anyir 2×25 MW MPP (operational September 2016); Suge Belitung 1×25 MW MPP (operational November 2016); Jeranjang 2×25 MW MPP (operational July 2016); Tarahan – Lampung 4x25MW MPP (operational September 2016); Nias 1×25 MW MPP (operational October 2016); and Balai Pungut-riau 3×25 MW MPP (operational November 2016).
The installation of the MPP in Lombok last year has changed lives, and opened new development and commercial opportunities for the people of the island.
Partners In Power – PLN And GE
The MMP installation plan was managed by PLN, working closely with GE.
Speaking about scale and importance of the program, GE Project Manager, Tony Anthony said, “We were proud to support the President’s project to bring power to underserved parts of the nation. And thanks to the eight 500 MW power plants, more than four million homes now have access to electricity for the first time – this is a life-changing development for them.”
The TM2500 turbine is a ground-based version of GE’s CF6 jet engine – a similar engine is used on the Boeing 747, including Air Force One
The eight MPPs are powered by GE’s TM2500 aeroderivative mobile gas turbine generator. Anthony said the truck-mounted GE TM2500 turbine generator was a good fit for the task as it is flexible, efficient, reliable, and can be operational within a few months.
In January, Anthony’s team also installed a TM2500 turbine generator in Gorontalo, Sulawesi, that is capable of producing 100 MW of energy – that’s enough energy to power 800,000 homes.
The Lombok installation was completed in five months.
Making A Difference
At the completion of the MPP program in November 2016, President Jokowi said, “We are delighted that the 500 MW mobile power plant program is now complete. One question that I am asked often is ‘why did we use the same energy equipment and platform?’ We opted for this option because the issues were the same in all the provinces, cities, and districts without access to power, or who were experiencing blackouts regularly.
“The mobile power plant platform could also be constructed faster – other choices like a coal-fired plant can take four to five years to build.”
Adding to his comments, Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ignasius Jonan said the development of similar transmission, and electricity distribution plans in West Kalimantan offers a bright future for the largely under-developed region.
“While the region’s current installed capacity is 550 MW, it is expected to reach 1,100 MW by 2019, and 1.300 MW in 2021, under the Power Purchase Agreement that will be finalized soon.”
He added. “The availability of electricity in this province, and others covered under the MPP program, inspires confidence, boosts community spirit, and attracts investors to these locations.’
Enhanced infrastructure also encourages local entrepreneurs, and business savvy players such as Fauzi Se in Lombok, to realize their commercial dreams to bring vibrancy, diversity, and new revenue flows to their economies. It also improves other vital community development areas such as education, healthcare, transport, and communications to benefit the wider public.
Fast Power: Three Countries, One Solution
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