The Pandemic Is Spreading, This Is The Role Of The Celukan Bawang PLTU To Help Bali Rise

BULELENG – After two years of being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the current situation is getting worse. Distance restrictions and strict rules for traveling have begun to be relaxed gradually. The frequency of domestic flights to and from Denpasar Bali is getting more and more crowded. Likewise, international flights to Denpasar are also increasing. Bali's tourism sector is starting to rise, what is the Celukan Bawang PLTU doing to support this situation?

Helmy Rosadi, PLN Dispatch Coordinator of PT General Energy Bali (GEB) or better known as PLTU Celukan Bawang, welcomed the current conditions in Bali and throughout Indonesia. The pandemic, which has shackled all public activities, is now slowly getting under control and people can return to their normal activities, although they remain vigilant and do not forget the health protocols.

The tourism sector, which is the mainstay sector on the Island of the Gods, is also starting to move. The Celukan Bawang PLTU, Helmy said, is always ready to distribute electricity throughout the island of Bali to support community activities, especially the tourism sector. "Celukan Bawang PLTU is always ready for pandemic conditions, PLTU operations continue to run according to the load plan targets provided by PLN. Every effort is made to maintain the quality and reliability of the PLTU in distributing electricity to the Bali subsystem. Moreover, the situation is now getting better. We welcome this condition with pleasure," he said.

The situation is getting better, domestic and foreign tourists have started to enliven Bali, continued Helmi, of course, it requires an increasing supply of electricity. This condition has been anticipated by the Celukan Bawang PLTU.

"With the increasingly conducive pandemic conditions in Bali, tourism has started to open up automatically increasing the electricity demand in Bali. Slowly, the load increased further during the peak of the 2019 pandemic. For information, the current Bali Subsystem load on Thursday, March 17, 2022, is 750 MW," he said.

Need

Actually, how much electricity is needed for the island of Bali in normal times before the pandemic hit and during the pandemic? According to Helmy, the needs in the two conditions are clearly different because public activities are not the same.

“The highest peak load (BP) in the Bali Subsystem during normal conditions is 980 MW which was recorded on January 29, 2020 at 19:30 WITA. And during the beginning of the pandemic the electricity demand in Bali decreased to 680 MW. Currently, the peak load has reached 750 MW. There is a fairly significant deviation between the highest BP, BP during a pandemic and BP when it returns to new normal, it can be described as a 'bathtub' curve, "he explained.

The more conducive the situation, the demand for electricity will increase even though the current PB has not exceeded the highest BP during normal conditions before the pandemic hit. "Automatically increasingly conducive conditions will increase electricity demand in Bali, community activities and mobilization will greatly impact electricity needs in Bali," continued Helmy Rosadi.

As the main electricity supplier on the Island of the Gods through PLN, PLTU Celukan Bawang remains committed to helping the economic recovery in Bali after two years of being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Celukan Bawang PLTU remains committed to being able to deliver electricity safely, reliably and sustainably. This is in accordance with the declared target because we realize that the electricity demand in Bali is still very dependent on the PLTU Celukan Bawang,” he said.

Prokes

Even though the situation is getting more conducive, the government has not revoked the status of the pandemic to be endemic. In response to this situation, the Celukan Bawang PLTU continues to apply health protocols in their work environment. The situation that is getting better does not make them careless to carry out the prokes.

"With the current pandemic status which is more conducive and the Minister of Home Affairs added regarding PPDN status which does not require travel requirements from PCR and RTA Test, it will have the potential to increase electricity demand in Bali. However, the implementation of health procedures is still strictly implemented at PLTU Celukan Bawang, because it is to maintain and ensure that all employees stay fit and are not exposed to COVID-19. People say, prevention is better than cure, "explained Helmy.

Then what about the PLTU Celukan Bawang 2 development plan which was announced some time ago, will it be realized in the near future?

"Until now there is no information about PLTU CB 2 in accordance with the RUPTL 2021-2030 that has been issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which does not mention PLTU CB 2 in the plan to add energy sources in Bali. Because until now the government is still focused on opening a larger portion of the EBT sector as an environmentally friendly energy source in Indonesia, especially in Bali," he said.

Regarding the use of other raw material sources other than coal, Helmy said there has also been no discourse in that direction. Because the raw material they use is coal with high quality.

“The raw material for the Celukan Bawang PLTU is still coal as the main raw material. There have been no discussions or plans for co-firing at the Celukan Bawang PLTU as an alternative raw material such as biomass that can be mixed with coal. Because according to the PPA, it has been stated that the main raw material for PLTU is coal. The technology used at the Celukan Bawang PLTU, including the use of 'High Grade' quality with special specifications, so if it will be 'infiltrated' by raw materials such as biomass, it will certainly greatly affect the reliability of the machines in operation. However, it is possible to conduct a study / assessment, depending on the agreement between the seller and the buyer in our PPA contract," said Helmy Rosadi.