Director General of Electricity Rida Mulyana noted in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, that the electrification ratio had reached 99.52 percent of the target of 100 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
"This electrification ratio is monitored at all times because it concerns justice and equitable access to electricity for all Indonesian people," Mulyana remarked.
The government admits that the remote location posed a challenge in providing access to electricity for the people, thereby leading to a delay in achieving a 100-percent electrification ratio.
The government has three strategies in place to achieve a 100-percent electrification ratio in Indonesia: network expansion, mini-grid construction, and construction of new renewable energy plants completed with electrical power distribution equipment (APDAL) and electrical energy charging stations (SPEL).
The electricity network expansion strategy is implemented for villages close to the existing distribution network. Meanwhile, the mini-grid development strategy is applied through the construction of power plants by utilizing the potential of new and renewable energy based on the local potential and the people living communally.
Moreover, the strategy of building new renewable energy plants is completed with electrical power distribution equipment (APDAL) and electrical energy charging stations (SPEL) to illuminate villages in hilly areas where community settlements are still scattered.
To achieve a 100-percent electrification ratio, the government proposes additional state capital participation (PMN) for PT PLN (Persero), with a value of up to Rp10 trillion. One of the additional PMNs proposed to the parliament is used to provide electricity in remote areas.
An official of the East Nusa Tenggara regional branch of state-owned electricity company PT PLN earlier confirmed that some 3,511 families in the province are eligible for free electricity installation assistance from the company in 2022.
"The free electricity installation assistance is aimed at economically-disadvantaged residents, and the installation will be conducted in phases year-round," PT PLN's East Nusa Tenggara regional branch General Manager, Agustinus Jatmiko, stated.
The general manager noted that the targeted 3,511 assistance recipients would have electricity installed in their houses according to the phases arranged by PT PLN.
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Some 15 families in Hansisi Village, Semau Island, Kupang District, are among the first families to have received free electricity installation assistance from the company on March 23, 2022, he revealed.
"The installation assistance continues to be provided to eligible recipients that we have logged earlier," Jatmiko stated.
The free electricity installation assistance programme demonstrates PT PLN's commitment to supporting the government in eradicating extreme poverty and improving the livelihoods of residents, particularly in East Nusa Tenggara Province, the general manager remarked.
Meanwhile, Yohanis Nggili, a resident of Hansisi Village, Kupang District, expressed gratitude that PT PLN had provided electrical installation, which he had expected for long at his house, free of charge.
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Translator: Sugihartoi P, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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