South and Central Kalimantan power outage due to lightning

Illustration. PLN workers make their effort to normalize power supply in Banjarmasin. (Antaranews Kalsel/special)

Power grid disruption occured at 16.49 WITA on the 150 kilo Volt (kV) high-voltage line (SUTT) transmission line between the Rantau and Barikin substation,

Banjarbaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - General Manager PT PLN South and Central Kalimantan Sudirman. (Antaranews Kalsel/Yose rizal)

Allegedly due to lightning, electricity in two provinces, South and Central Kalimantan, experienced disruptions resulting in blackout.

PT PLN South and central Kalimantan's Assistant Manager of Communication Bayu Aswenda here on Sunday (January 19, 2020) said, the disruption to the PLN's distribution network serving the two provinces, occured at about 16.49 Central Indonesia Time (WITA).

"Power grid disruption occured at 16.49 WITA on the 150 kilo Volt (kV) high-voltage line (SUTT) transmission line between the Rantau and Barikin substation," he remarked.

He said the initial indication of disruption was caused by lightning at the 150 kv SUTT between two substation (GI) in south Kalimantan.

"The disruption has caused power outages in several areas in South and Central Kalimantan and officers have been deployed to recover the disruption," he stated.

The impact of the disruption from the two substation (GI Rantau and GI Barikin) was electricity supply in several GIs halted, namely the Banjarbaru Airport GI, Cempaka GI, Mantuil GI, Satui GI, and Batulicin GI in South Kalimantan.

So was in Central Kalimantan, power supply temporarily stopped in Palangkaraya GI, Sebangau GI, Sampit GI, Bagendang GI, and Pangkalan Bun GI. All customers around the GIs experienced blackout.

Meanwhile, PLN officers kept their effort to normalize power supply at the substations, then gradually normalizing electricity supply on the customers side.

"We express our apologies for this unforseen accident, please pray for the normal electricity supply to run smoothly and safely," Bayu stated.

Until at 20.00 the power supply was still halted, but about five minutes later the electricity returned to normal in Banjarbaru City and surrounding areas, including in a number of places in South and Central Kalimantan.