VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government is committed to increasing electricity access for people living in the outermost, remote, and underdeveloped (3T) areas through the 100-percent electrification target next year, the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister has said.

"We have a program to provide new electricity installations. Some 80 thousand connections have been allocated in the state budget for the 2022 term," Minister Arifin Tasrif informed at a webinar accessed from here on Tuesday.

The program will cover households who cannot afford to pay for new installations in 3T areas that are already supported by electricity, he said.

According to the data from the ministry, the national average electrification ratio reached 99.37 percent in July 2021.

Currently, there are several provinces which need special attention—East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua, Tasrif said.

As rural electricity supply has relied on diesel power plants till date, the government is encouraging them to be replaced by renewable ones according to the villages' potential, he added.

In addition, the government is also pushing the rooftop solar power plant program to increase consumers’ role in clean energy utilization, the minister said.

"Furthermore, the government also supports the development of electricity connection within and inter-islands to increase the reliability of electricity and the implementation of renewable energy in a place where the electricity source is far from the customers," he added.

Currently, the government is conducting a study for inter-island connection to connect major islands in Indonesia, he said.

The interconnection program can also overcome the oversupply of large electricity systems, he added.

The Sumatra-Malaysia electricity interconnection is scheduled for commercial operation in 2030, while a study is still being conducted to export clean electrical energy through the inter-island connection from Sumatra to Singapore, Tasrif said. (Antaranews)