Java, Bali hit by huge electricity blackout

JAKARTA - Power supplies to large areas of Java and Bali, including all of Jakarta, were disrupted yesterday, said the state electricity company.

"There was a disruption in the Java-Bali transmission network. It was quite big and we are still checking for the cause," said an official at the company.

At least three major power plants on Java - Paiton, Muara Karang and Suralaya - were down, taking out 30 per cent of the supply.

"As far as I know, there's no terror issue here," the official said.

Many buildings in Jakarta used backup generators.

The blackout stopped electric trains operating round the Indonesian capital, Antara news agency reported.

"We are still counting the number of electrical trains that have stopped," said Ahmad Sujadi, a spokesman for Indonesia's rail company.

Radio reports and witnesses said Jakarta's main international airport was also affected by the outage.

High global oil prices have forced Indonesian authorities to introduce various power saving schemes in recent months, including rolling blackouts in the capital and other cities. About 30 per cent of power plants use oil products.

- REUTERS