The ministry of public works will build a micro hydro power plant in Hukurilla village, South Leitimur sub district, Ambon city, Maluku province with a capacity of 3.30 KiloWatt, a local official said here Tuesday.
Guntar Maha, an official of the Maluku River Center for Raw Water Commitment, said the power plant would be a pilot project using renewable energy, namely the watershed of Way Rupa.
The project would be built in Hukurilla village because the village was close to the Way Rupa river, which had potential discharge and height differences that could be turned into micro-hydro energy sources, he said.
According to Guntar, the construction of the micro-hydro power plant project required the clearing of land and procurement of equipment such as turbines, concrete wire, a tranquilizer tank, pillars for supporting concrete pipes, house plants and channel release.
The project would be located 20 kilometers from Ambon city and be inaugurated by Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, who also would attend the 18th Annual Scientific Meeting (PIT) of the Indonesian Hydraulic Engineers Association (HATHI) on October 28 to 30, 2011, Guntar said.
The project would also include the building of a one-kilometer-long transmission network from the waterfall’s location to Hukurilla beach which had a population of 147 households or 623 people.
The project would also support the development of maritime tourism in Hukurilla which has a beach with coral panorama, underwater caves and various types of reef fish that make it an ideal dive site for domestic and foreign tourists, he added.
“We will involve staff from the Public Works Research and Development Agency in Bandung to build the micro-hydro power plant Hukurilla. Similar plants would be developed in other areas in Maluku which have waterfalls with water flows and high difference potential,” said Guntar.
The goal was to reach areas that do not have electricity from State-owned Electricity Company (PT PLN) of Maluku and North Maluku region.
Micro-hydro power plants use the potential energy of waterfalls to generate electricity.
The objective was to provide environmentally friendly electric power at low operating and maintenance costs in order to improve the quality of life and foster the economic growth of the rural communities, Guntar said.
