VZCZCXRO3718
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0115 3350816
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010816Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0489
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0499
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0223
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0191
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0512
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SURABAYA 000115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG ECON ID
SUBJECT: MALUKU: ELECTRICITY WOES PLAGUE AMBON 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Technical and maintenance problems at Ambon's 
power plants have left the island without electricity for up to 
14 hours a day.  While repairs are expected to be completed 
soon, long-term development needs require increased electricity 
capacity.  Planned Ambon projects are plagued by land ownership 
disputes.  The provincial government hopes to develop 
alternative energy to provide electricity to the entire 
province, but there are no firm plans in place to do so.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
10 Hours of Electricity a Day 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) For the past two months, Ambon Island, home to the 
capital of Maluku province, has regularly experienced blackouts 
of up to 14 hours each day.  The maximum capacity of the two 
aging diesel power plants that supply electricity to the island 
equals Ambon's peak demand of32 MW.  Other islands in the 
province receive electricity from other plants but face similar 
shortages.   In September 2009, both of these plants began 
experiencing severe technical problems, severely limiting their 
total actual capacity, leading to the extended blackouts. 
According to the State Electricity Company (PLN), the age of the 
plants has made finding replacement parts difficult.  PLN claims 
to have found a firm in China able to create the parts; they 
expect to have the plants fully functional again in December 
¶2009. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Lutfi Sanaki, a member of the Maluku Provincial 
Parliament, said that this electricity crisis impacts business 
activity and handicaps the provincial government's efforts to 
attract investment.  However, the Maluku Vice Governor, Said 
Assagaf, said that he didn't think this "temporary problem" 
would negatively impact long-term growth.  He pointed to the 
province's six years of economic growth over 4% and argued that 
the power plant would be fixed in time to allow 2009's growth to 
match that.  However, he added that in order to meet future 
demand, the province needed to provide greater electricity 
production capacity. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the medium term, PLN plans to build a new 34 MW 
coal-fired power plant in 2010 to supplement the two existing 
plants servicing Ambon.  However, Suhfi Madjid, a Member of the 
Maluku Provincial Parliament, expressed doubts that the project 
would be completed on time.  He pointed out that the project has 
already been delayed several times due to budget problems and a 
land ownership dispute involving the plant's planned location. 
A planned geothermal plant to provide electricity to the 
province faces similar ownership issues.  Anton Lailossa, the 
head of the Maluku Province Economic Bureau (BAPPEDA), added 
that once the ownership dispute is settled the geothermal 
project would take at least two years to be completed. 
 
Hopes for Renewable Energy 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Anton said that, in the long term, the province hopes 
to develop renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and 
tidal power to provide electricity to the province as a whole. 
He said that BAPPEDA has already identified a site for a 
geothermal plant (see above) and that the Maluku Province plans 
to cooperate with other island provinces to develop tidal 
energy.  The Maluku government met with governments from seven 
provinces (Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa 
Tenggara, Riau, Bangka Belitung, and North Sulawesi) in November 
2009 to discuss a plan to develop this potential energy source. 
 However, they encountered difficulty formulating a plan of 
action since no one in Indonesia has experience with tidal 
energy projects. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Some question the viability of these alternative energy 
plans.  Suhfi Madjid, described both geothermal and tidal power 
as "political ideas" without any clear implementation plans. 
Anton noted that Maluku Province cooperated with a Russian 
company in 2007 to develop a wind power plant.  However, the 
turbines fell apart when they were first switched on. 
Similarly, Anton said that while the central government provides 
equipment to the province for solar energy every year, the 
equipment is fragile and does not last long enough to be useful. 
 
MCCLELLAND