History of The Coming of
Electricity to Indonesia
History of The Coming of
Electricity in Indonesia
Nowadays’ society basically cannot do work normally without a touch of electricity, it’s unseparated. This applies as well in Indonesia. By now, electricity has been a part of every Indonesian's daily routine. But have you ever wondered about how electricity firstly came to Indonesia?
Based on the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, electricity has entered Indonesia since the 19th century. Electricity in Indonesia was introduced in the Dutch colonial era, when Indonesia's first power plant was built for the use of a sugar and tea factory owned by the Dutch. Electricity began to publicly emerge when a private Dutch gas company, namely NV. Nign, expanded its business to provide electricity to the public. In 1927, the Dutch government's established Lands Waterkracht Bedriven (LWB), a state electricity company that manages power plants in various parts of Indonesia.
Picture 1.
The history of electricity in Indonesia has a correlation with the surrender of the Dutch to Japan in World War 2. At that point, all of Indonesia, including the electricity and gas company were taken over by Japan. Hence with the fall of Japan into the hands of the allies, and with the proclamation of Indonesia's independence on 17 August 1945, a good opportunity was seized on by youths and electricity and gas laborers to take over the Japanese-controlled electricity and gas companies.
In September 1945, after successfully acquiring the companies, a delegation of electricity and gas laborers was sent to face the head of Indonesian National Committee (KNI), which at that time was chaired by M. Kasman Singodimedjo to report the results of their effort. Hereinafter, they came face to face with President Soekarno to hand over the electricity and gas companies to the government of the Republic of Indonesia. The handover was accepted by President Soekarno, and then with the Government Decree No. 1 year 1945 dated 27 October 1945, the Electricity and Gas Bureau was officially established under the Ministry of Public Works and Power.
Picture 2. Indonesia's electrification ratio 2019
​
Long jump to the present, by the end of 2015, Indonesian electrification rate has reached 87%. Such a rapid progress in the last five years compared to 2010 which only reached 67%. In the next 5 years since 2015, electricity demand will grow by an average of 8.7 percent per year, with an electrification ratio target of 95 percent by the end of 2019. The target was successfully achieved, where in 2019 Indonesia's electrification ratio had reached 98.86% (Picture 2) and in 2020, Indonesia's electrification ratio had reached 99.20 percent (ESDM, 2021).