EKBIS.CO, JAKARTA -- PT PLN (Persero) noted that the national electrification (RE) ratio has reached 99.79 percent as of December 2023, with 81,556,202 households receiving electricity nationwide.

“We perform the function of public service obligation (PSO) by providing equalization of electricity access to all corners of the archipelago. The achievement of the national electrification ratio as of December 2023 is 99.79 percent,” said PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo during the Hearing Meeting with Commission VI of the DPR RI, in Jakarta, last week.

Darmawan details that in 2023 there will be an addition of electricity connections to 3.2 million household customers. Thus, national RE in 2023 increased by 4.1 percent compared to national RE in the previous year which reached 99.63 percent.

“The total (not only households), the addition of electricity connections will be 3.5 million in 2023 including for businesses and industries,” he added.

The national electrified village (RDB) ratio as of December 2023 was reached at 99.85 percent. This figure is an increase of 0.06 percent compared to the ratio of national electrified villages in December 2022 which reached 99.79 percent.

Darmawan said that PLN continues to strive and strive to electrify all remote areas in promoting the improvement and equalization of electricity access.

Therefore, PLN has created mapping or village electricity roadmaps (lisdes) from 2022 to 2027. Darmawan added that the planning system was created using digital mapping, with PLN identifying villages that have not been electrified throughout the region in Indonesia.

“And we are also mapping the existing infrastructure that PLN already has and developed the most optimal and efficient strategy to expand the existing electrical infrastructure to electrify these remote villages,” he said.

Darmawan said that the lisdes roadmap for 2022-2027 is a very optimal and efficient planning with a high degree of precision. All this planning was also made in order to be able to carry out Pancasila's fifth precept, which is social justice for all Indonesians.

“We also need to convey that in the process of diluting the remote villages, a very cozy and harmonious atmosphere was created, our arrival was warmly welcomed (by the local people),” Darmawan said.

Meanwhile, in terms of reserve margin, Darmawan ensures that the current electrical system is much more robust. As of December 2023, the national reserve margin was recorded to be above 30 percent. Current conditions are better compared to 2015 with reserve margins outside of Jawa-Bali when many were on standby, even deficit.

“This is the sweet fruit of the development of the expansion of electricity infrastructure, both from generation, transmission, as well as distribution, so that the national electricity system in 2024 is much more robust than the electricity system in 2015,” Darmawan said.