Indonesian President Jokowi paid a visit to Lombok when he inaugurated the groundbreaking of the Mobil Power Plant project and pushed contractors to have the project completed by September 2016. The Mobil Power Plant (MPP) – which is powered by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) rather than diesel and coal currently used on the island – is part of the Jokowi government’s drive to accelerate the conversion of fossil energy fuelled power plants across Indonesia to clean energy sources. Over the past few weeks, PLN has been testing the voltage to ensure the reliability of the machine and making adjustments to the existing system. After the initial testing period, the 25MW power generator has been successfully hooked up to the Lombok power grid. Operators of the MPP in Jeranjang say a second power plant with the capacity for another 25 MW will be operational in the near future, following trials for the machine. The MPP project in Lombok is becoming a strategic initiative of the PLN in developing the electricity infrastructure of Lombok – with the aim of achieving an electrification ratio of 100 percent by 2024. In addition, the MPP gas-fuelled plants could potentially save PLN costs on fuel of up to Rp 26 billion per year. Once the second plant is fully operational, with a total of an additional 50MW on the Lombok power grid, it is envisaged that the electrification ratio in Lombok will increase from its current 73.83% to 78.16% by December 2016. Currently the Lombok power system has a peak load of around 212 MW and a power supply capable of generating around 219 MW. This means there is no back-up if one of the generators fails or needs repair… as has so often been the case with the old diesel-powered generators used on the island. With the additional 50 MW generated by the MPP in Jeranjang, PLN hopes to increase the reliability of the power supply in Lombok and minimise black-outs in the future.
