Even The Big One Makes Mistake

Today I read in Kompas daily newspaper an article about hydro power development in Simalungun. The title is "Simalungun Akan Bangun PLT Mikro Hidro 10 MW" or "Simalungun is going to Construct a 10 MW Micro Hydro Power Plant". My concern is about the micro classification of a 10 MW power plant.


So far there is no agreement on Hydro Power Plant classification. One says that "micro" size MHP has capacity between 1 MW to 10 MW. The other says that micro hydro should have capacity between 100 kW to 1 MW.


I use GoI's classification to classify hydro power plants. Actually GoI does not make concrete classification but GoI has enacted some regulations that part of them mention about MHP classification. For example Ministerial Decree 1122 of 2002 (Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources) convers only MHP that is in the size range under 1 MW. The decree says that under 1 MW MHP is considered as "kecil" or small. Other regulation from the same ministry (Decree no. 002 of 2006) regulates interconnection of "mid" range MHP or we can call mini range MHP to national grid. Decree 002 of 2006 uses size range between 1 MW - 10 MW as the "mini" category.




So, media should sometimes do some reality checks before publishing an article. The mistake might be very small but it is annoying. Peace...