Villagers At The Foot Of Mount Rinjani Lombok Smiling, Their Houses Are Bright At Night

Two PLN officers installed kWh meters in one of the houses in Dusun Bual, Bayan Village, Bayan District, North Lombok, NTB/Antara

MATARAM - PT PLN (Persero) West Nusa Tenggara Regional Main Unit allocated a budget of Rp1.35 billion to build electricity infrastructure so that it successfully illuminates Bual Hamlet at the foot of Mount Rinjani, North Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara.

"PLN has started building electricity infrastructure for Bual Hamlet, Bayan Village, since April 2021. The planning itself has been carried out since January 2021," said General Manager of PLN's NTB Regional Main Unit, Lasiran, in a written statement in Mataram, reported by Antara, Sunday, September 12.

He said the majority of the residents of the hamlet, which is located at an altitude of 1,157 meters above sea level, are farmers who work on plantations every day.

Lasiran explained that in order to electrify the hamlet, which is about an hour from Tanjung, the capital of North Lombok Regency, his party must build a medium-voltage network of 1,752 kilometers of circuit (kms).

In addition, building a low voltage network of 3,535 kms, and installing a new transformer unit with a capacity of 160 kilo Volt Ampere (kVA).

"Of the 38 customers who are currently electrified, all of them are household customers. A total of 32 customers are of 900 VA power, and the remaining 450 VA," he said.

Meanwhile, Village Head Bayan Satriadi expressed his gratitude and appreciation for PLN's work in electrifying Bual Hamlet.

"Certainly, the lighting will have a positive impact. Now residents can study, recite the Koran at night," he said.

Not only that, but Dusun Bual residents can also watch television from their homes and make their own ice cubes, without having to go or search outside the village. Previously, electricity in the hamlet was lit using an energy-efficient solar power plant which was a Nawacita program from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

In fact, the government had previously used a self-supporting micro hydropower plant, but now it is no longer operating.