VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A 60-MW barge-mounted power plant (BMPP) was delivered to Ambon city, Maluku, on Saturday (January 29, 2022).  (ANTARA/Penina Fiolana Mayaut/KT) - 

Nusantara 1, a 60-MW movable, barge-mounted power plant (BMPP), can support the electrification of Indonesia's eastern part, state electricity firm PT PLN's president director, Darmawan Prasodjo, informed on Saturday.  

Speaking in Ambon, Maluku, he said the first stage of BMPP was developed by PLN's sub-holding PT Indonesia Power in collaboration with state shipbuilding company PT PAL.

Barge mounted power plants are a solution for meeting electricity needs in remote areas, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia, he explained. The BMPP program aims to meet electricity needs over the short and temporary term, he said.

In addition, the presence of the BMPP would encourage reserve margin and increase the electrification ratio rapidly, he said. What is more, the BMPP can be moved to a place that requires more electricity, he added.

"Such as remote areas that are mostly located in eastern islands of Indonesia," Prasodjo explained adding, areas such as Ambon require 63.6 MW of electricity. With the Nusantara 1 BMPP coming in, Ambon's power supply, which is managed by the PLN Group, can be solidified, he added.

Nusantara 1 BMPP is equipped with dual fuel technology to accommodate flexibility in and availability of fuel, he said. A large amount of power is needed to electrify areas that have electric power deficits, he added.

"We hope that Nusantara 1 BMPP can operate efficiently and on time, supporting Ambon's electrical system," Prasodjo said.

Meanwhile, president director of PT Indonesia Power, M Ahsin Sidqi, explained that the BMPP would electrify Ambon through a 150kV network.

At the end of January 2022, Nusantara 1 sailed to Ambon from Surabaya,he informed. Furthermore, on February 12, it will undergo a mooring process, he said.

After the BMPP's arrival, power evacuation work, backfeeding, RLB, RLS, and operations synchronization will be done to support the Ambon electricity system before March 31, 2022, he added//ANT

Members of the Barongsai Sports Federation's executive board (PB FOBI) and Central KONI at the Gedung Kaca FOBI Secretariat Office in Central Jakarta on Friday (January 28, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-KONI Pusat/FR) - 

The Central National Sports Committee (KONI) has officially inaugurated the secretariat office of the Indonesian Barongsai Sports Federation's executive board (PB FOBI) in KH. Mansyur Kav 129–130, Karet Tengsin, Central Jakarta.

While Central KONI chairman Marciano Norman was unable to directly attend the inauguration event on Friday, a special speech from him was read by an official at the event.

In an official statement released on Saturday, Norman thanked all barongsai, Indonesian traditional lion dance, enthusiasts within PB FOBI for their commitment, spirit, sacrifice, and sincerity in guiding the sport.

"As a result of their hard work, they finally have their own headquarters named Gedung Kaca FOBI Secretariat Office," he said.

"Seeing PB FOBI organizers' extraordinary spirit, I am optimistic that the Indonesian people will love the barongsai sports more," he remarked.

"Let us hope that with this office, PB FOBI will productively yield successful athletes and also programs that could be linked with sports tourism," he added.

In addition to Central KONI members, the event was also attended by figures such as PB FOBI chairman Edy Kusuma, Chinese figure Ted Siong, advisory board member Tono Suratman, and advisor Ronald Syarif.

Kusuma also thanked Central KONI and the provincial KONI for their support of barongsai sport which, to this day, has 25 provincial organizers across Indonesia.

In fact, several achievements have been made at the international level by Indonesian barongsai athletes, according to Kusuma.

He further said that the guidance program will continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Despite the pandemic, FOBI will never stop its activities in all of Indonesia," he stressed.

On a separate occasion, Norman had said that the barongsai has made a large contribution in driving the nation's sports tourism//ANT

Industry Ministry official Reni Yanita. (ANTARA/ HO Biro Humas Kementerian Perindustrian/FR) - 

The Industry Ministry is enabling partnerships between small and medium industries (IKMs) and hotels as IKMs often encounter difficulties in partnering with private and other economic sectors and entering the global supply chain, an official said.

"This partnership facilitation is done so that these IKMs can raise their status and expand their market," ministry official Reni Yanita noted in a statement issued on Saturday.

"Their products can also be better known by tourists who stay in Indonesia's popular hotels," she added.

Lack of experience and networks is becoming a hurdle for IKM actors in expanding their market access, she noted. To this end, the ministry is helping IKMs partner with big industry and other economic sectors, she informed.

In 2021, the ministry managed to help 96 IKM actors through a business meeting with big industry and other sectors, which helped 18 IKMs to land partnerships, Yanita said.

One of the IKMs that managed to partner with a hotel was Haveltea Indonesia, a tea enterprise selling locally produced tea from Surabaya, East Java, she said. The enterprise partnered with Grand Mercure Surabaya, she added.

"CV Haveltea Indonesia was one of the 15 best IKMs in the 2021 Indonesia Food Innovation's end-product category," Yanita informed.

The ministry also encouraged IKM participants at the 2020-2021 Indonesia Food Innovation to register for a partnership curation with PT AAPC Indonesia (Accor Indonesia Group) at the end of the last year, she added.

The pre-partnership curation has been done since November 24, 2021, in a hybrid format, she informed. Under the program, participants sent and showcased their products that were then tested by Accor Indonesia's team, she added.

"The result of the cooperation with the hotel group that has thousands of hotel networks in several nations could become one of the important points and a big opportunity for Haveltea to rebrand their products," Yanita remarked.

Meanwhile, the collaboration of food and drink IKMs with a variety of hotels, restaurants, and cafés will continue this year, she disclosed.

After going through the curation process, food and drink IKMs will certainly be capable of improving their quality by following the market's taste and quality, she affirmed.

"There will certainly be changes and adjustments in the IKM products based on the needs of the hotels, restaurants, and cafés, such as changes in size, packaging, or rebranding," Yanita remarked//ANT

Illustration - An electricity power plant that emits carbon, which needs to start its transition to green energy production to meet the Indonesian government's target of net-zero emission in 2060. (Antara/HO-Rekind) - 

Indonesia, which hosts the G20 Presidency event in 2022, should realize more concrete achievements in expediting efforts to transition to green energy, C20 Co-Chair Aryanto Nugroho stated.

The strategic role and agreements of the G20, as a group of countries, with the largest economy in the world, have an impact on every aspect of life globally, including the issue of energy transition, Nugroho, the co-chair of C20 Indonesia, or the official G20 partner of civil society organizations, informed ANTARA here on Saturday.

According to Nugroho, energy transition policies at the international scale would be highly influenced by the G20 forum, and Indonesia's position in this matter is crucial.

He stated that the proposed target of net-zero emissions can be realized faster than the deadline year of 2060.

"In the context of the (Indonesian) government's net-zero emission scenario in 2060, it could be achieved in 2050," Nugroho explained.

Earlier, National Energy Council (DEN) member Herman Darnel Ibrahim had called on the government to be more humble while addressing the energy transition issue at the G20 Presidency forum.

According to Ibrahim, Indonesia should convey more of its problems regarding energy transition.

He also called on the government to be vocal about the need for coal in the economy. Ibrahim drew attention to the fact that Indonesia had similarities with India and China in terms of coal requirement to run the economy.

In Indonesia, coal commodities have two functions of producing safe and cheap electricity despite also generating waste in addition to contributing to the country's economy.

Ibrahim stated that if the government does not deliver on new promises in the G20 Presidency forum, the confidence placed by countries in Indonesia could potentially decline//ANT