REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TERNATE -- At least 150 villages in 10 districts/municipalities in North Maluku Province have not yet been covered under the government's electrification program, an official of state-owned electricity firm PLN said.
"As many as 150 villages have not yet been covered under the second phase of the Indonesia Terang (Indonesia Bright) Program (PIT). Hence, this will be included in the long-term program of PLN in North Maluku," Jamal Syamsu of the local PLN office stated in Ternate on Thursday.
"The second phase of the electricity development project is already in the process of budget drafting and is now being put on tender," Syamsu noted.
He remarked that for the third phase, the electrification project will cover four villages. It is still in the year 2017. Villages which are not yet included in the PIT program are still under the planning scheme. The PIT itself will be implemented by 2020.
In the meantime, PLN Director of Regional Business of Maluku and Papua, Haryanto, stated in Jakarta on Wednesday that PLN has set a target to provide electricity to 484 villages in Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, and West Papua to increase the national electrification ratio, which currently reaches 91 percent.
PLN is currently undertaking electrification projects in 365 villages in Papua and 119 villages in Maluku.
In 2016, PLN had provided electricity to 96 villages in Papua and West Papua as well as 34 villages in Maluku and North Maluku.
"The numbers will continue to increase in a bid to increase the success of 'Menuju Maluku Papua Terang 2020' (Towards Maluku and Papua Bright in 2020)," Haryanto noted in a press statement released by the PLN headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday.
In the first quarter of this year, PLN had been successful in operating the Yasin Bey marine vessel power plant (MVPP), with a capacity of 60 megawatts (MW), to supply power to Ambon's electricity network.
The operation of MVPP has added 70 MW of reserve power to Maluku. "With the power reserve, the investors will have a great opportunity to expand their businesses in Ambon. Hence, it is expected to improve the local economy," Haryanto reiterated.
Under the national program to generate 35 thousand MW of electricity, Maluku and Papua will receive an allocation of 1 thousand MW of electricity, with 46.5 MW for commercial operation, 180 MW for in-progress construction, 260 MW for procurement, and 560 MW for planning.
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