Power-strapped Indonesia plunged into darkness as strained transmission grid pitches into collapse
A power failure that struck Indonesia’s main transmission network on 18 August left some 100 million Indonesians without electricity.
State-owned power monopoly Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said a failure hit the Java-Madura-Bali inter-connection system just past 10am, causing outages across the main island of Java and nearby Bali.
Eddie Widiono Suwondho, president of PLN, has warned that the outage highlights the fragile state of the transmission grid but the company has nonetheless offered compensation to customers facing losses stemming from the blackout. “We will provide compensation if the quality of services declined as a result of the trouble in power supply,” said Suwondho.