PLN Will Built 48 New Solar Plants to Electrify 71 Villages in Papua

State electricity company PT PLN has revealed the plan to build 48 solar power plants, with capacity ranging from 10 to 120 kilowatt-peak (kWp), that will work to electrify 71 villages in Papua and West Papua provinces.

General manager of PLN Papua and West Papua Moch. Andy Adchaminoerdin said the plan is in line with the company’s commitment to supply electricity to more villages and remote areas across Indonesia. He also revealed that for the two provinces, PLN will focus on villages that already have low voltage isolated network.

“Besides focusing rural electrification, we also improve the reliability of system in cities in Papua and West Papua,” Adchaminoerdin said, as reported by Antara on Monday, May 30. He added that electrification ratio in the two provinces is currently at 96.84 percent.

“This year, we’re prioritizing the target [to electrify] 427 villages that were unelectrified during the rural electrification program in 2020,” he explained.

PLN revealed that from that number, 198 villages have been successfully electrified while the other 229 continue to be PLN’s focus.

“We continue the effort to electrify all villages in Papua and West Papua, and the target is to supply electricity to the 229 villages – as set out by the roadmap.”