July 21, 2023
Indonesia has made a great leap in electrification, with almost all of its over 13,000 islands now wired up. The government states that the country’s electrification rate stood at 99.63 percent in 2022. Major islands like Sumatra and Java have even experienced oversupply as state-run electricity company PLN continues to expand its grid.
But there are still islands and areas in which more than 300,000 households live with minimum or no electricity. Most of them are in remote areas, including small islands located in the outermost regions of the country.
Located southwest of Sumatra, Enggano, in Bengkulu province, is one of the 42 inhabited outermost islands in Indonesia that had been getting by with little or no electricity for most of the country’s 77 years of independence.
Bordering only the Indian Ocean to its west, and 160 kilometers across the channel from the provincial capital of Bengkulu city, it is home to around 4,000 people who have only enjoyed full-time electricity since early 2023.
Here is the story about how the island has strived to escape from a life in the dark, from limited electricity that comes from solar panels to all-day lighting generated by diesel-fueled power plants.
A villager chops wood that will be used for cooking.
A villager roasts raw melinjo nuts to make chips, which are a common food item produced on the island.
Villagers once had to rely on their own resources to light their homes. The well-off households bought mobile diesel generators, but the less fortunate had to make do with makeshift oil lamps, locally known as lampu tonggok.
Saodah, 65, and Aminuddin, 69, were among the less fortunate. They were born and raised on the island, before any sort of electricity or modern lamps were introduced.
The couple said that for lighting the locals would rely on fishing boats that would also visit Bengkulu city to buy kerosene and then sell it in warung (kiosks) on Enggano Island.
“We would buy kerosene at the warung to make our own bottle lamps, using Kratingdaeng bottles,” Saodah told The Jakarta Post in May, referring to a brand of energy drink that uses a 150-milliliter glass bottle.
The lack of electricity meant that Saodah had no electrical appliances, such as a clothing iron.
“We used an iron that was heated using hot charcoal. We only used it for parties or celebrations,” Saodah said.
A villager roasts raw melinjo nuts to make chips, which are a common food item produced on the island.
Darkness eventually gave way to light in 2014, Banjarsari village received solar panels and batteries from the central government, which, it was hoped, would bring light into the village.
“This solar panels arrived, delivering affordable electricity to villagers’ houses,” Suprik, the village head of Banjarsari, told the Post in May.
When the Banjarsari solar panels were fully operational, they supplied electricity to around 170 households in the village, out of a total of 276 households.
Those connected to the solar plant paid about Rp 25,000(US$1.64) each month in maintenance fees, each house receiving 25 watts of electricity credit daily, which was enough for a few electric lamps.
Suprik said that by 2017 the solar panels in Banjarsari were only operable during sunny days, and by night time the charge stored in the batteries installed at the plant only lasted until about an hour after midnight.
Fast forward to 2023, the panels, located amid dense forests and open fields of sparse rice fields and shrubs, are covered with moss and debris.
As no villagers have the knowledge or skills to operate the solar panels, nobody knew what to do when the batteries started to leak and became damaged.
A bird’s-eye view of Banjarsari village, showing a network of small roads, houses, farms and forests.
(Top) An electricity meter for the communal solar power plant.
(Bottom) The house of Kartini, 81, a villager, who relies on the solar power plant.
A similar story occurred in Kahyapu with villagers relying on their own efforts for light.
Hari Saptono, 50, arrived in Enggano from Lampung in 1995, looking for work and holding several jobs on the island.
He finally got married and settled down on the island, setting up a small store selling staple goods such as soap, seasonings and stationery in 2005.
At the time, Hari used a mobile diesel electricity generator to power his house and business for six hours from dusk to midnight.
“I used diesel because I run a small business so we needed lighting,” Hari told the Post in May.
At the time, Hari used a 3,000-watt diesel generator, which he bought for about Rp 3 million. To fuel the generator, Hari had to spend about Rp 24,000 for three liters of diesel fuel for six hours.
In 2016, Kahyapu received solar panels from the government, bringing light to 130 households out of the around 180 households in the village.
(Top) An electricity meter for the communal solar power plant.
(Bottom) The house of Kartini, 81, a villager, who relies on the solar power plant.
In Kahyapu, the solar plant was still operational when the Post visited in May, albeit showing signs of wear and tear that the villagers had to repair using money out of their own pockets.
Kahyapu village secretary Siswandi, 31, said that since the solar power plant was installed, the plant had been damaged on three occasions.
However, the villagers had limited knowledge about how to maintain the solar power plant, apart from basic operations, and Kahyapu had to bring outside technicians to the island and buy additional batteries.
“The fact that this solar power plant is still operating after six years is remarkable. To be honest, despite the plant being built for us here, the know-how was not transferred to us,” Siswandi told the Post in May.
He said that some technicians had arrived when the solar power plant was being installed, but called it a “formality” as the technicians did not teach the villagers how to handle technical problems.
By the time the Post visited the Kahyapu solar power plant, it was still operating and was relied on by villagers whose houses had yet to be connected to PLN’s electricity grid.
Children play volleyball during their spare time.
Turn on the light
A ferry docks at the ASDP port in Kahyapu village. The ferry, which connects the island to Bengkulu city, comes three times a week carrying goods and passengers.
A Susi Air aircraft lands at the airport in Banjarsari village. The flight, serving the Bengkulu – Enggano route, lands every Tuesday and Thursday.
While Enggano was first recorded by European travelers in the 16th century, it largely missed out from progress and development during the Dutch occupation and following the country’s independence.
It takes a 12-hour ferry journey from Bengkulu to reach the ASDP ferry port in Kahyapu, located in the eastern part of the island. The government only built an airport in Banjarsari, located in the western part of the island, in 2014.
Each of the six villages on the island are connected by a single road. The road is wider at Kahyapu, the most developed village, as it is the closest to the port, and residents have bigger houses as many of them own plantations or run small businesses.
A ferry docks at the ASDP port in Kahyapu village. The ferry, which connects the island to Bengkulu city, comes three times a week carrying goods and passengers.
The island, whose area is four times that of Paris, is still covered by thick forest. Other than rice farming, most residents plant bananas, which is also their main export commodity to Malaysia. Cocoa, black peppers and melinjo nuts are also commonly cultivated on the island.
Despite having an airport, Banjarsari is relatively less developed with more residents being rice farmers or plantation owners.
In 2016, Enggano islanders were greeted with the construction of a diesel power plant. By the following year the plant started its operation with the state electricity firm PLN distributing electricity from it to all six villages on the island.
Banjarsari village head Suprik said given that the solar panel was barely functional by then, the villagers switched to electricity distributed by PLN for lighting.
“People made the switch to the diesel power plant, because it is affordable and able to cover the villagers’ needs,” Suprik said.
A worker unloads a truck carrying raw bananas to be shipped to Bengkulu city.
Villagers dry smashed melinjo nuts. To make emping chips, raw fruit is sand-baked and the seeds inside are smashed with a mallet to make 5-cm disks before being dried.
The broken and abandoned batteries of the Banjarsari solar power plant.
A villager checks pre-paid credit on an electricity meter installed by PLN at his home in Apoho village.
Villagers say that when the diesel plant started operating it only distributed electricity for half a day, from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
Only by early 2023 did all six villages from Banjarsari in the west to Kahyapu in the east finally enjoy 24-hour electricity.
Diesel fuel for the plant is shipped from Bengkulu city, with tanker trucks carrying the fuel crossing the channel aboard a passenger ferry arriving at Kahyapu before making the journey inland to the diesel power plant.
The diesel plant has a fuel storage capacity of up to 100 tons and is refilled every three months with at least 90 tons. The plant consumes up to 33 tons of diesel fuel per month.
Still, for people who had long been without reliable access to electricity, 24-hour electricity even from a diesel power plant is still met with joy.
Saodah (left),65, and Aminuddin, 69, unwind in front of their TV set after a full day of work in Banjarsari village.
Saodah and Aminuddin, like many villagers, started to become more confident in purchasing electronic appliances such as a rice cooker and a television.
Saodah and Aminuddin’s three-bedroom house in Banjarsari, has already been powered up with electricity, which they use for lighting, a TV set and a rice cooker.
As both of their two daughters are already married and living with their husbands, Saodah and Aminuddin spend around Rp 100,000 in pre-paid electricity credit each month.
“Alhamdulillah [thank God], life is better since the electricity got here,” Saodah said.
Children play around Banjarsari village.
Saodah (left),65, and Aminuddin, 69, unwind in front of their TV set after a full day of work in Banjarsari village.
A villager smashes roasted melinjo nuts to be made into 5-cm diameter emping chips.
Meanwhile, for Hari in Kahyapu, 24-hour electricity has meant business expansion.
With the introduction of the PLN electricity grid powered by the diesel power plant in Enggano in 2017, Hari slowly expanded his home business, opening an ice factory and filtering drinking water in 2020.
Hari’s ice-making factory located in a wooden shed at the back of his house produces around 570 kilograms of ice every day, which he usually sells to fishermen who want to keep their catches fresh.
With 24-hour electricity available on the island starting earlier this year, Hari expected that his business would also be able to expand and be more productive.
“We who live on this island really need power as we are located in the outermost region of the country. We on this island also want to enjoy power just like anyone else in the country,” Hari said.
However, even with 24-hour electricity being available on Enggano, there are those who are still relying on solar panels and the kindness of others to light their homes.
Kartini, 81, still relies on the electricity from Kahyapu’s solar power plant to light her house, where she lives alone as her children and grandchildren live in Bengkulu city.
Like many other Enggano islanders, Kartini relied on oil lamps for lighting before any sort of electricity was introduced on the island.
With the introduction of the solar power plant, she, like many other Kahyapu residents, had electricity installed in her house, enough to power a couple of lamps in her home.
Hari Saptono, 50, checks equipment in his icemaking factory in Kahyapu village. He sells the ice to fishermen on the island.
Kartini did not connect her home to the PLN power grid despite it being introduced in 2017 as she did not have many electronic appliances except a rice cooker and a handphone charger in her home.
For cooking and drinking water, Kartini mainly uses firewood gathered from around her house, including her backyard of about 0.25 hectares, where she makes a living by planting various crops such as bananas, durians and other fruit and vegetables.
“I don’t have the money so I don’t have it installed [electricity from PLN]. There’s already a solar power plant anyway so alhamdulillah,” Kartini told the Post in May.
Children play around Banjarsari village.
The electricity from the solar power plant comes free of charge, except for a monthly maintenance fee of around Rp 25,000, while the power from the diesel plant requires an installation fee and a monthly charge paid to PLN.
However, lighting from the solar power plant is not always reliable, as during the rainy season the electricity only lasts for a couple of hours instead of the whole night. In such conditions, Kartini has to use a power outlet connected to a neighbor’s house if it is available.
“When I’m alone I don’t mind the darkness, but when one of my grandchildren comes over they will complain ‘it’s dark granny’ […], and I tell them to be patient because tomorrow will be bright,” Kartini said.
Energy experts say that while diesel power plants are often the easiest and most affordable way to provide 24/7 electricity in outermost islands like Enggano, the potential for renewables according to local conditions must be explored.
Ali Akbar, chairman of Bengkulu-based environmental group Kanopi Hijau Indonesia, said that the conditions in Enggano showed that the government had yet to prioritize renewable energy in outmost islands and other remote areas.
“In this case [in Enggano], solar power lost out to non-renewable diesel fuel,” Ali told the Post in June.
He pointed out that the diesel power plant on Enggano Island was also vulnerable if, for example, storms were to happen at sea the island could be cut off from supplies, including fuel, which could leave Enggano islanders without power.
He also criticized the fact that the solar power plants were given to the Banjarsari and Kahyapu villagers without adequate transfers of knowledge from the central government.
Community-run electricity also receives less support from PLN, which monopolizes electricity procurement and distribution.
“Electricity from PLN is viewed as the best. It’s considered be inadequate not to use electricity from PLN. On the other hand, community initiatives [to procure electricity] are restricted,” Ali said.
While hydropower covers more than half of Indonesia’s renewables, other sources are also taking off.
Note: Capacity in megawatts 2023 figures are estimates
Note: Capacity in megawatts 2023 figures are estimates
Source: Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry
Fahmy Radhi, an energy economist from Gadjah Mada University, said that it was the government’s duty to provide electricity in Indonesia’s outermost islands, which includes the option to use diesel power plants.
Diesel, he said, is an easier option for those remote islands, which are not linked to the main PLN grid.
He suggested that the government must allow community-run electricity procurement, which is based on renewables that are available according to local conditions, be they hydropower, biogas, solar or wind.
“This potentials should be mapped by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, which after that could decide on the electricity transmission and distribution networks,” Fahmy said.
Iwa Garniwa, the rector of PLN Institute of Technology, said that diesel was currently the cheapest and the most technologically available energy generator in remote areas.
He said that while solar power had been proposed as a solution in remote areas, most solar cells are intermittent, are reliant on the weather conditions and thus need batteries to store the generated electricity despite their relatively easy maintenance.
“Renewable energy is indeed encouraged by the world, however, we also need to consider [local] access and affordability,” Iwa said.
Separately, Wanhar, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director for electricity program development, said that the government had pledged to electrify all frontier, outermost and remote regions (3T) before its push for energy transition.
Therefore, he said, diesel power plants were used in the regions, especially in eastern parts of the country, as they were still the most common method of reaching isolated areas. The government together with PLN have also started to phase out fossil fuel use for electricity in the regions.
“We will replace those diesel power plants with renewable energy,” Wanhar said.
He also pointed out that not all locations had diverse renewable energy sources, so solar power plants would likely be one of the main options as almost all regions in the country received steady sunlight.
Up to 613 communal solar power plants with a total capacity of 19,830 kilowatt-hours have been built by the government since 2012.
The government has plans to build communal power plants in 10 villages in remote regions, Wanhar said.
However, he said such communal solar power plants, once installed in the regions, would be the responsibility of residents and local administrations.
Wanhar said that both solar power plants in Banjarsari and Kahyapu had been handed over to the North Bengkulu regency administration in 2017, meaning that it was now the responsibility of the local administration to maintain them.
While the communal solar power plants such as the ones given to Banjarsari and Kahyapu were procured out of the state budget, Wanhar said that after the official handover the central government could not allocate funding to the communal plants anymore.
“The regulations on the state budget do not allow it, unless such facilities were damaged before we handed them over,” Wanhar told the Post in an interview in late June.
He suggested that Banjarsari and Kahyapu could find alternative sources of funding for their solar plants, such as private companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs or the local administrations submitting a proposal for new solar power plants to the central government.
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