Bali yet to maximize renewable energy sources

Bali dependent on Java.

That's as far as energy to support its electricity system is concerned.

It is still mainly dependent on energy supplies from Java.

In order to secure the energy needed by Bali, more supplies will be taken from Java. One of these ways is through cables with a maximum capacity of 100 MW each connecting Java and Bali.

“These are currently being installed. Hopefully completion will be soon so that the island’s peak load demand, which has now reached 649 MW, can be fulfilled,” said Agung Mastika, spokesperson of PLN.

He pointed pouinted out that Bali actually had a number of potential alternative energy sources, including rivers, wind and the sun.

Several micro-power plant installations using hydropower have already been planned, but none of these have been built.

In the case of wind power, as many as nine wind turbines have been erected in Nusa Penida, however, as of today, only three of them are actually in operation generating a very small total capacity of merely 80 kilowatts.

Nusa Penida Island also already has two solar panels, which only produce around 30 KW per unit.

The joint landfill for Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan located in Suwung also initiated a power-producing program installing a plant to use the methane gas created from the mountain of waste. Nonetheless, electricity production is only 223 KW.

“They used to produce around 900 KW, but it kept decreasing over the years. We don’t know why,” said Mastika.

Meanwhile, geothermal energy, despite its huge potential, is unlikely to be developed in Bali due to rejection of the concept by the local community on cultural grounds.

Ni Luh Kartini of the Bali Organic Association said that there was good potential for the island’s local communities to gain energy independence. “By managing their cattle dung, as well as their domestic waste, they can produce their own gas to provide lighting.”

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