Tampelas, Remote Village In Central Kalimantan Immediately Enjoy PLTS Facilities

JAKARTA - PT Arya Watala Capital (Watala), a startup company that focuses on developing renewable energy power plants, and PT Rimba Makmur Utama (RMU) which manages the Katingan Mentaya Project ecosystem restoration initiative, announced a partnership for the procurement of a solar power plant ( PLTS) with a pilot project in Tampelas Village, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan.

The procurement of PLTS in Tampelas Village is part of the implementation of the concept of a Restorative Economic Zone, which is an area where economic activities and the sustainability of natural and cultural functions can restore and strengthen one another. The signing of the cooperation was carried out by CEO and founder of Watala Mada Ayu Habsari and CEO of RMU Dharsono Hartono on Monday 8 August in Jakarta.

Mada Ayu Habsari said, Watala is committed to developing the village's electricity potential, especially in hard-to-reach locations, so that all Indonesians have the same opportunity to get clean energy.

"Therefore, we are grateful to have the opportunity to support the productivity of rural residents in the interior of Central Kalimantan, starting with the village of Tampelas, through the procurement of alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly," said Mada in his statement, quoted on Tuesday, August 9.

"Because it has not been reached by the electricity network from PLN, currently the residents of Tampelas village get their electricity supply from communal generators as centralized power plants, which are only operated from 17.00 to 00.00, and private generators for productive activities during the day. Limited sources of electricity become an obstacle for residents to optimize the potential of their village. PLTS will be a solution to overcome this obstacle, "he added.

Tampelas Village is one of 35 RMU partner villages in the community empowerment program that is part of the Katingan Mentaya Project (KMP) they manage. KMP is an approach to restoration and conservation of peat forest ecosystems covering an area of 157,875 hectares in Central Kalimantan through the Forest Utilization Permit (PBPH).

RMU collaborates with the community and village government elements in 35 villages around the concession area to create sustainable alternative livelihoods for local communities, improve the economy and carry out educational and capacity building activities in various fields.

RMU Chief Operating Officer Rezal Kusumaatmadja said, improving the quality of life, welfare and capacity of local communities is an important element in ecosystem restoration programs such as KMP.

"We at RMU have a mission to develop a restorative economy in the villages around the peat forest conservation area that we manage. To optimize the economic potential of a place, supporting infrastructure is needed, including adequate electricity supply. That's what moves us to work together with Watala for the procurement of renewable sources of electrical energy, starting with Tampelas Village which is our pilot project for the development of restorative economic areas in villages around KMP," explained Rezal.

"The procurement of PLTS is also in line with our mission to use clean energy in RMU facilities, to protect the KMP area and its surroundings from pollution resulting from fossil generation," added Rezal.

Rezal further explained that Tampelas Village with a population of 393 people was designated as an experimental village for this program because of the high potential that exists in the village, one of which is the cultivation of cork fish which contains a lot of albumin. Snakehead fish albumin is known as a substance that has many health benefits, and can be a potential for economic development for the people of Tampelas village.

"For the management of the albumin industry, sufficient and consistent electricity supply is needed. With the existence of PLTS later, this can be fulfilled. In addition, an adequate supply of electricity will also greatly assist the development of other economic potentials that already exist in the village, such as swiftlet farms, workshops, internet cafes and others, as well as improving the quality of life of the community in general," said Rezal.

Furthermore, Tampelas is a village whose residents have a strong awareness and commitment to maintaining and restoring peat swamp forest.

"Tampelas is one of the villages that, with RMU facilitation, is now managing a village forest of 6303 hectares, through the Tampelas Village Forest Management Rights (HPHD) issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry since December 2019. The Tampelas Village Forest has the potential to be developed as an ecotourism area and promote forest bee honey business. which is currently managed traditionally by the community. This further strengthens the basis why Tampelas village was chosen as a pilot project for the procurement of PLTS, "explained Rezal.

He added that RMU has facilitated 3 villages around the Katingan Mentaya ecosystem restoration area to obtain HPHD, including Tampelas, and is currently processing HPHD for 3 more villages. He hopes that more other villages will be moved to participate in forest conservation through the Village Forest.

In addition to cooperating with RMU, Watala also collaborates with several other parties to realize the construction of PLTS in Tampelas Village, including PT Pandega Design Waherima (PDW), PT Synkrona Enjiniring Nusantara, PT Syntek Otomasi Indonesia and PT Wibawa Perkasa Abadi.

Mada said, from a study conducted by Synkrona, his party found that to be able to support the albumin industry and increase the productivity of residents, the optimum size of PLTS to be installed in Tampelas village is 204.12 kWp with a 409.6 kWh battery.

"Our partner PDW will build a communal area on village land, and PLTS will be installed on the roof of the building. This communal area can later be used as a meeting hall or center for village residents' activities, thus bringing more value to the community," said Mada.

Meanwhile, Rezal emphasized that the community development program and village forestry carried out in villages around the PT RMU area could be implemented with the support of the local government and the central government, especially the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. For that, they thank you profusely.

"We hope that the activities we carry out together with partners and the government, such as the program in Tampelas village, will bring tangible benefits to residents, improve their quality of life and welfare, as well as make residents more aware of the importance of protecting nature and the ecosystem in which we live. We We also hope that the Restorative Economic Zone development program in Tampelas Village can go according to plan, and will later be replicated in other villages by cooperating with more and more partners, so that the impact will also be even greater," he said.

"We believe that partnerships with parties with the same vision are important in ecosystem restoration efforts, and are key to supporting the Indonesian government, especially the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, in achieving national targets for the SDGs," concluded Rezal.