Power will be supplied to these villages through hydropower plants, electric tubes, biomass power plants, and solar power plants
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - State-owned electricity firm PLN hope to supply electricity to 1,123 villages in Papua and West Papua Provinces by the end of 2019, PLN General Manager for the Papua and West Papua regions Ari Dartomo said. Power will be supplied to these villages through hydropower plants, electric tubes, biomass power plants, and solar power plants, he told journalists in Jayapura, the capital city of Papua Province, Tuesday.

The total number of villagers who would be served by PLN's electrification program could have been validated thanks to its recent Lighting Papua Expedition Program, he said. The electrification ratio of Papua and West Papua Provinces had so far reached 95.75 percent, he added.

Some 58.25 percent of the electrification ratio was filled by PLN while the remaining was distributed by the Solar Energy Lamp Program (LTSHE) of the Energy and the Mineral Resources Ministry, and the initiatives of the regional administrations.

The electrification program would soon be conducted in the villages of Sarmi District.

The central government has outlined an ambitious target to achieve a milestone in the power sector, with 100 percent electrification in Indonesia by 2020, former Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan had revealed in September.

"Until August, (the electrification ratio) had reached 98.9 percent completion. With a monthly increase of some 0.1 percent, the target of 100 percent can be achieved by 2020," Jonan remarked after attending the 62nd anniversary of Padjajaran University.

The electrification ratio was projected to reach 99.3 percent completion by 2019-end, Jonan affirmed.

Jonan pointed to the fact that some 500 thousand households applied for new power connections annually. (INE)
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