PLN Claims West Sumatra Electricity System Recovers 100 Percent Post-Disaster

PT PLN (Persero) managed to restore the West Sumatra electricity system after the flood and landslide disaster that occurred at the end of last November. PLN reported that on Friday, December 5, at 17.53 p.m., the electricity in the West Sumatra region recovered 100 percent after Agam Regency as the last affected area was successfully turned on.

General Manager of PLN Main Distribution Unit (UID) West Sumatra, Ajrun Karim said, the recovery process in various affected locations, such as Agam, West Pasaman, Padang Pariaman, Dharmasraya, Sawah Lunto, East Pasaman, Solok, Pesisir Selatan, Padang Panjang, South Solok, and Padang City have big challenges.

According to him, handling this requires complex technical steps due to the interruption of access to a number of medium voltage electricity network locations (JTM), low voltage networks (JTR) and affected distribution substations.

"Our officers together with the TNI, Polri, and the community penetrate a steep path, carry heavy equipment manually, and work until the evening because access to location points can only be passed on foot," Ajrun said in a statement to him, Saturday, December 6.

He continued, to restore the electrical condition of West Sumatra, his party rebuilt several power grid poles and distribution transformer substations in a number of affected areas.

"In this recovery, PLN managed to install 619 JTM and JTR poles, as well as 30.95 kilometers of replacement electric cable circuits (kms) to ensure that electricity supply for the community returns to normal," said Ajrun.

The President Director of PLN, Darmawan Prasodjo, emphasized that the presence of electricity is a basic need for affected communities.

According to the Government's directive, through the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Bahlil Lahadalia, all personnel work 24 hours fully in the field to ensure all affected points get their electricity supply back. Alhamdulillah, currently the West Sumatra electricity supply has recovered 100 percent. Hopefully this will make it easier for the community to carry out their activities and optimize public services," he said.

Darmawan also said that the rapid recovery carried out could not be separated from the close collaboration of various parties. According to him, the synergy of the Regional Government, TNI, Polri, and the community is very crucial in the process of normalizing West Sumatra electricity.

"We witnessed how the spirit of gotong royong really lived. The local government, the TNI, Polri, the community, and the PLN team moved as one body. This is a humanitarian mission to restore light after the disaster in West Sumatra," said Darmawan.