Finally, Five Villages In West Kutai Can Enjoy 24-hour Electricity

PLN (Photo: PLN)

JAKARTA - Residents of Karangan Village, Jengan, Sakaq Lotoq, Gunung Rampah, and the roar in Mook Manaar Bulan (MMB) District, West Kutai Regency, are now receiving 24-hour electricity supply. Previously, there were only 12 hours of electricity every day, namely throughout the night for lighting.

"Girning the electricity of West Kutai is a separate struggle," said the Manager of the Customer Service Implementation Unit (UP3) of PT PLN (Persero) Samarinda, Yusrizal Muzakir, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, March 11.

To connect electricity to these villages, PLN must build a 25 km Central Voltage Air Line (SUTM), which is a 20,000-volt voltage cable span above electric towers.

Including SUTM, 2 towers as high as 40 meters on both banks of the Mahakam River to support the 500-meter-long cable above it.

Then to reduce voltage so that electricity can be used in houses, PLN builds 9 power substations, and then distribution channels with electricity poles to houses along 10 km.

Before getting home, the electricity goes to the transformer first to reduce the voltage to 220 voltages. There is one transformer in each village, including in the five villages that have just enjoyed 24-hour electricity supply.

Residential settlements separated from relatively long distances, then challenging landscapes, make PLN have to be really mature in planning.

So far, PLN has succeeded in flowing 130 villages of electricity out of a total of 190 villages and 4 sub-districts in West Kutai, the westernmost district of East Kalimantan, whose first lady, Melak-Sekolaq Darat-Barong Tongkok, is no less than 350 km from Samarinda, or 450 km northwest of Balikpapan. If it is from IKN in Sepaku, it will sink to a distance of approximately 300 km.

"So for now we have succeeded in flowing 67 percent of the electricity to West Kutai. There are still 64 villages waiting for their turn," said Muzakkir.