Members Of The Indonesian House Of Representatives Ask PLN To Secure Power Supply For Oxygen Production

Member of Commission VII DPR RI Mulyanto. (Intermediate Doc)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VII DPR RI, Mulyanto, wants PLN to ensure the reliability of electricity which is very much needed in the oxygen gas production process, which is currently much needed for the medical needs of COVID-19 patients.

"PLN's electricity support is also very much needed for oxygen gas producers for medical purposes. So far, the productivity of the oxygen gas industry is highly dependent on the reliability of PLN's electricity," said Mulyanto in a written statement in Jakarta, Friday, July 9.

According to him, this is important because it is related to the electrical instrumentation of the oxygen gas production system. If there is a disturbance to PLN's electricity, the oxygen gas production system will also be disrupted directly.

He explained that in Indonesia there are six main industrial companies producing national oxygen gas, namely Samator Group, LINDE Indonesia, Petrokimia Gresik, Air Products Indonesia, Air Liquide Indonesia, and Iwatani Industrial Gas Indonesia, whose factories are spread from Banten to Surabaya.

Oxygen. (Intermediate Doc)

Meanwhile, the total oxygen gas produced by these companies is 640 million tons per year with an industrial capacity of 74 percent.

Given the increasing demand for oxygen gas, he continued, this production capacity is planned to be maximized so as to produce an additional 225 million tons per year. Meanwhile, until now there is no plan to develop a new factory producing oxygen gas.

"Therefore, the reliability of PLN's electricity to support the productivity of the oxygen gas industry is absolute in the midst of the recent shortage of oxygen gas. "Actually, in terms of power supply, we are not worried about PLN electricity, because for the Java-Bali region, the supply of PLN electricity has a surplus of more than 30 percent, what we are worried about is the reliability aspect," said Mulyanto.

He explained that based on data from the Directorate General of Electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the national average number of PLN electricity unreliability, both for the duration and frequency of power outages, was 13 hours per customer per year and 9.5 times per customer per year.

Previously, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) guaranteed the reliability of electricity supply for the oxygen industry spread across 28 locations in Java to Bali.

"We are trying to ensure the reliability of electricity in the oxygen-producing industry so that the production process remains smooth," said PLN President Director Zulkifli Zaini in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday, July 4.

His party also guaranteed the electricity reliability of 577 COVID-19 referral hospitals during the implementation of the Emergency Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) on July 3-20, 2021.

He explained that electricity in Java, Madura and Bali is in safe condition because it has data capable of reaching 37,400 megawatts with a peak load of around 27,335 megawatts and a power reserve of around 10,065 megawatts.

PLN also takes several anticipatory steps to ensure the reliability of the oxygen industry's electricity is maintained, including checking the network, installing protection so that potential external disturbances can be reduced, assessment, and reconfiguring the network in anticipation of disturbances.

In addition, PLN has also alerted 23,934 special personnel in Java to Bali spread over 420 posts, as well as 1,786 motorized vehicles and 789 supporting equipment such as generators, uninterruptible power supply, and mobile substation units.

With a safe electricity supply, it is hoped that there will be no obstacles in the production of oxygen which is much needed by patients exposed to COVID-19.