PLN Cooperates With South Korean Companies To Develop Underground And Marine Cables

JAKARTA - PT PLN (Persero) has started a cooperation with the South Korean submarine cable company, LS Corporation for the development of underground and marine cables in Indonesia.

This collaboration was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the President Director of PLN, Darmawan Prasodjo and the Chairman of LS Group, Ja Eun Koo, LS. The MoU was held on Thursday, July 28, at Lotte Hotel Seoul and witnessed directly by the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir.

PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo said PLN has a duty from the government to continue to increase the electrification ratio to remote areas of the country.

The geographical condition of Indonesia as an archipelagic country is a challenge for PLN which requires the development of special skills to be able to build electricity networks through submarine cable or land cable technology.

"To be able to increase the electrification ratio in Indonesia, one of the options is to expand the electricity network between regions and even between islands. For that, we at PLN need to deepen the technology of submarine cables," said Darmawan in an official statement, Thursday, July 28.

Darmawan added, submarine cables are also needed to build network interconnections to support the development of new and renewable energy (EBT).

This interconnection concept can be a solution to the problem of intermittent solar power plants (PLTS).

Not only that, he continued, the need for land acquisition and the Right of Way (RoW) for the transmission network is increasingly requiring larger and more complex funds, so it is necessary to study the use of underground cables.

Darmawan explained, through this MoU, PLN will explore cooperation with LS Corporation, and continue with discussion, study, and knowledge transfer activities which will be regulated in a more detailed agreement text.

"The MoU is intended to regulate the provisions in order to prepare the follow-up," he said.

Darmawan said that one thing that PLN really needed was benchmarking and studies on the development of underground cables and submarine cables, both AC and DC for various voltages, which were projected to be more competitive, especially for developments such as offshore wind turbines.

"And of course the use of ground cables for load growth in urban areas and the use of inter-island sea cables," he continued.

Darmawan added, in this collaboration, there will be an increase in human resource capacity and knowledge transfer in the field of submarine cables and land cables.

"Through this collaboration, it is hoped that PLN's human resources will become more skilled, better master the technology of the electricity network both underground and under the sea because we need this to increase the electrification ratio," explained Darmawan.

PLN and LS Corporation will also explore the potential for cooperation in the development of energy infrastructure and manufacturing facilities for submarine cables and land cables in Indonesia.

LS Corporation has a reputation as one of the global companies for technology providers for underground cables and submarine cables.