Bulukumba regency in South Sulawesi is set to launch the “Jetpro Indonesia”, the first commercial wind-powered turbine power plant in Southeast Asia.
The program is a joint initiative of the World Bank and the regency to provide clean water and drinking water infrastructure for Bulukumba residents.
The Rp 2 billion (US$222,000) Taiwanese-made Jetpro turbines will power two clean water and drinking water pumps and provide electricity to 30 low-income homes in Mario Rennu village, Gantarang district.
Erik Elisar, director of PT Perkasa Bima Kencana, Jetpro’s sole distributor in Indonesia, said on Saturday the turbine plant had been finished on Dec. 15 and was set to begin operation in late January.
“The commercial use of wind-based renewable energy turbines in Bulukumba is the first in Southeast Asia. Many developers have tried to develop it, but they always failed,” he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Erik said the Jetpro Indonesia power plant would use about 140 wind turbines to generate a maximum of 28 kilowatts of electricity, far exceeding the 18 kilowatts demanded by the program.
“Each turbine can generate 200 watts of power. We may have an electricity surplus. So, we will use the overage to generate power for several poor households after using the electricity generated to power the water pumps,” Erik said.
Clean water is a critical problem for Bulukumba residents.
According to the Bulukumba regency Health Department, the local mortality rate from unclean water was five times greater than targets specified by the United Nations (UN).
The wind speed in Bulukumba exceeds 12 meters per second on average, which is strong enough to power wind-turbines energy. Thus, the regional administration is trying to generate electricity for the water pumps by using wind-based energy turbines.
