Aug. 4 (UPI) — Indonesia’s state electricity company said power will return to Jakarta by Sunday night after a power failure affected tens of millions of people.
The blackout struck the capital city of Jakarta and its suburbs, home to about 40 million people. The islands of Java, where Jakarta is located, and Bali, were also impacted. It halted commuter trains in Jakarta, including those on the city’s newly-opened MRT metro lines, and turned off traffic lights in a city known for its traffic congestion. ATMs and mobile phone services were disrupted, and homes, stores and apartment buildings lost electricity.
The problem was traced to the failure of a gas turbine at a major power plant and an unidentified disruption at another power facility, state electricity company PLN announced on Sunday.
“The blackout was caused by trips [errors] on the Suralaya turbine gas from number 1 to 6, while the turbine gas number 7 is off. Cilegon turbine gas-powered power plants in Banten are also experiencing troubles,” I. Made Suprateka of PLN added.
By Sunday evening, almost 50 percent of West Java island, including Jakarta, had its power returned, PLN later said. Hospitals and the city’s airport, producing electricity with generators, were not affected by the blackout.
