Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources together with the National Electricity Company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to build a smart grid to support the utilization of renewable energy in Indonesia.
The General Director of Electricity, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Jisman Parada Hutajulu, stated that the government is currently developing a smart grid project to facilitate the transfer of renewable energy sources located far from the electricity demand centers in Indonesia.
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(Photo: Freepik)
"What cannot be ignored is how to move energy from those potential locations to the demand centers. This is what we are currently developing, the super grid. That is why it was agreed earlier that this issue is the main infrastructure, or basic infrastructure," said Jisman at the Indonesia’s House of Representatives Building in Jakarta, quoted on Nov. 17.
In addition, he mentioned that besides the super grid, a smart grid project is also currently being developed. He stated that these two projects are interrelated in developing domestic renewable energy projects. “The super grid is indeed interconnected to the smart grid. And we are currently pushing forward to develop these,” he added.
On the other hand, Darmawan Prasodjo, the President Director of Indonesia state-owned electricity company, revealed that they are currently developing the potential of new and renewable energy as the country’s source for power generation. In order to optimize this potential, the country must first build a smart grid as a penetration of renewable energy.
Darmawan mentioned that without a smart grid, the massive influx of solar and wind energy would make the system vulnerable and very prone to risks.
This addition in power plants, especially for solar and wind, will exert a significant pressure on the company’s grid system. For instance, in the case of solar power generation, the capacity starts at 50% at 8:00 AM, increases to 100% by 10:30 AM, then decreases again to 60% at 2:00 PM, and further reduces at 4:30 PM.
“So there’s a fluctuation known as intermittency that must be addressed through various efforts, one of them is through the implementation of smart power plants and flexible generation,” Darmawan stated.
