Tough Choice: Hardware Quality or More MHP schemes (continued)

continuing the last blog post...

The fifth aspect concerns about financing. price factors could be a determinant of an MHP project implementation. current MHP project implementation is dominated by the government financing. The implementation process of government projects is always through the tender process. Tender process emphasizes the principle of "least cost". This means that whoever is the least expensive will get the contract. Although the specification has been determined in the tender document, but they are very general and can not cover quality issue except for poewr output. There are risks in this process and the risk was mainly caused by quality problems. If the government has a limited amount of budget, then simpler MHP schemes will be the only options since they can be cheaply implemented. the more MHP schemes constructed the better for electrification ratio.

The sixth aspect is government's political goal especially in the energy sector particularly rural electrification. Goal or target to be achieved by the government, is in general the increase of electrification ratio. For Indonesia the increase electrification ratio is very relevant since electrification ratio is still low. MHP is not the only one solution to increase the electrification ratio, but MHP is one of the solutions that can significantly increase electrification ratio. This means that with the same amount of funds, the number of households that will be electrified can more than other solutions such as solar home systems. With limited funds the government must race against time to increase the electrification ratio. The more MHP scheme are built the more funding is needed. If quality is sacrificed a bit, then there will be more MHP can be built and thus significantly increasing electrification ratio.

Of some aspects of the above, it seems that the goal to increase electrification ratio is of the dominant prime mover. The government has a time limit to reach a certain electrification ratio (if they have??). With limited funds, there is a tendency to optimize the available fund and therefore "least cost" option is chosen. The consequence of this might be the sacrifice of MHP hardware quality.

to my opinion, the way the government develop the sector will boost the growth of MHP hardware industry. New manufacturers can emerge in many places in Indonesia. although sustainability of the scheme might seem to be sacrificed by using less quality hardware, but sustainability still can be achieved by strong social cohesiveness. hardware is a precondition and social plus environmental aspects are important requirements for sustainable MHP scheme.

the government at the end has to decide that the industry has to move on to next level (e.g. quality wise). this means the product quality must be better, the product must perform better, the production method must be better, the skill of technician must be better, and the product must be reliable. good products will open up more opportunities to the people that get the MHP scheme to have better economic condition.

currently there are advance MHP hardware producer in indonesia, they have to keep the commitment to quality. for new manufacturers they have to develop them selves to improve their product quality. the role of government is very strong. government has to set minimun quality standard of MHP hardware. government has to support new manufacturers by using their products as long as they are meeting the minimum standard. government must also support industry to improve their production method, technician's skill, new hardware technology etc. cooperation with higher education institution cal also support the effort as long as the institution has strong background on MHP technology. the current introduction of public domain cross flow turbine design is a good start.

Finally, since government's role is very big, a clearly defined program and goals must be made available. The program should be based on current conditions and look ahead to what the sector wants. currently there are some projects (nation wide) that are closely related to MHP sector. government can put one or more of its goal into each project and the project will try to achieve it based on their available resources. what we need now is clearly defined program and clear understanding of strength, weaknesses, opportunities and thread.

may the sector develops in a better way.

Tough Choice: Hardware Quality or More MHP schemes

Development of micro hydro power (MHP) in Indonesia is so far encouraging. Encouraging in the sense that there are more and more MHP applications in Indonesia implemented by government institutions such as the local energy offices at the provincial or district level, the Ministry of energy and mineral resources, the Ministry of disadvantaged areas and other national or local programs.

The consequence of this is the increasing demand for better MHP hardware especially for turbine and control equipment. It is also necessary in to also have qualified expertise in MHP planning. MHP construction is not as easy as installing solar home system (SHS). Planning is the key element of a good MHP scheme. Once wrong planning is implemented, it will be fatal later on. Related to hardware issue, there are still some questions: how many producers are there in Indonesia? how good their products are? can they provide for hardware MHP demand? how important the hardware quality for the project owner? and many other questions. These questions ultimately come down to one important question: is the quality a priority?

High quality in general can be interpreted as reliability, durability, good performance, and usually also means higher price. high quality of workmanship demands a good production method, the skillful labor, and of good working tools. high quality can also be associated with more complicated production process that it eventually could encourage an increase in the level of hardware technology. This can further encourage research in the specific topic.

With the strong government's determination to increase the electrification ratio by using renewable energy, then there is a tendency to carry out as many MHP projects in Indonesia, especially in remote areas that are not electrified by PLN. if planning is not a problem, in the sense that they are done well and correctly, then the next question is the selection of hardware. Is quality hardware needed or not? There are no simplified answer for this, because there are consequences that must be accepted and there are sacrifices that must be taken. There are some aspects that might be influenced by the choice of hardware.

The first aspect is the sustainability of MHP. MHP will be eventually damaged if not properly maintained properly. Based on the assumption that good maintenance is performed by qualified personell, the equipment will operate better and only need spare part replacement after a longer period. this means that the risk of break down is also less and eventually it will improve the sustainability of MHP scheme.

The second aspect is the issue of MHP service. Based on the assumption that water resources available at design rate, higher quality hardware will produce more electrical energy (kW). High output means more people can be served or service levels can be improved (watts per house for example). It will open more economic potential for the people. Other than that, generally the quality of electrical energy generated is also better so as to enhance the level of the MHP service quality.

The third aspect is the potential of monopoly and limited production capacities. By not disparaging other MHP turbine manufacturers in Indonesia, producers in Bandung are in the front line of quality. Although not all producers in Bandung are strictly apply the principle of quality, but generally in terms of work quality and hardware performance, they are much better. If all are requesting hardware from Bandung, then there will be a big production pressure for them. This condition can lead to two negative things: potential of monopoly and lower hardware quality due to shorter time in the production process. The first potential negative impact will eventually affect other producers in Indonesia, they can not develop and improve their production skill.

The fourth aspect is the after sales service. A good after-sale is responsive and quick. it can be achieved if there is a representative of the manufacturer in the area or the producer himself in the area. After sales will be a bit problematic if the manufacturer is located quite far from the user. MHP hardware products are not OTC products. They are customized to client’s need. They are not mass product and the market is very specific. Having a representative in all areas will be just very expensive to the small scale manufacturers in Indonesia. It is therefore, more manufacturers all over Indonesia might be a good solution for better after sales service.

to be continued.....

E-Toll: why is it rather slow?

In the last 1 week, I drive to office via city toll road. I drive from Jatiasih (Jakarta Outer Ring Road), pass small part of Jagorawi toll, and get in to the Jakarta Inner City Toll road. Starting 19 of October, there is an interesting thing happening at Cililitan Ramp. There are two special toll payment gates that are using E-Toll Card. They are suppose to be an automatic gate. User use the E-toll card by putting the card close to the reader, get the print out receipt and drive into the toll road. People using that gates should at least get out of the gate faster than the normal cash payment gates. However, as far as I observe, the gate is even slower than the normal cash payment gate. Once I counted 14 seconds to finish one transaction at the e-toll gate. the standard time for cash transaction is 10 seconds (or maybe faster). this has caused delays and longer queue in the gate. the e-toll gate should be a faster option of the ramp, but i failed so far.

What have caused that sluggishness? There are at least two options that eventually lead to the technology. E-toll card uses different type of machine to read it. It is not like credit card or debit card that use swipe machine. E-toll card only needs to be "in touch" with the reader. The process should take very short time (2-3 seconds) and the transaction is done. It is true that after the transaction (payment and money is deducted) the gate is opening, but usually the car stays there maybe to get the printout of the receipt. The gap of the system might be in the printing stage. The whole system is actually quite complicated. It has to integrate car identification system (whether it is a small passenger car, bus, or trucks) and payment system. So far the installed one only handles small passenger car (type 1), so the complication is reduced. The system should work faster because it is not (yet) very complicated. The system integrator or designer has failed to provide fast reliable automatic gate system.

The second reason why the e-toll gate is so slow is because of its potential to replace manual gate operators. Can you imagine how many people will have to leave the job if the automation works fine? I do not know. Maybe hundreds of people directly in the job and thousands of people depending on them will be affected. Using this automatic gate will surely cut jobs and create unemployment.

The second reason might not have very strong technical relation to the slowness of automatic toll gate, but the potential condition can make certain people do something or more things strange, like tempering the machine so that it does not work properly. I hope, my second guess is not happening and the reason for slowness is purely technical reason.

Anyway, I am still waiting for better public transport so that I do not have to drive 60-70 kilometers per day. Bike? Let’s see. I am rather old to do it.

New Electricity Bill - Is It Better?

New bill just passed by house of representative yesterday (8/9/09). The new bill is regulating electricity sector. If the president does not sign it, then the bill will not be implemented.

The main feature of this new bill is that regions are given freedom to have their own electricity utility. This is true mainly for areas not in PLN's (Indonesia's Utility) service area. As far as I observed, this bill is just another way for the government to escape from the obligation. Government has to provide energy for the underprivileged communities/areas as mandated in the Energy Bill (30/2007). Since regional governments are basically/usually have little knowledge on the sector and low financial capacity to provide electricity to remote areas or underprivileged areas (that usually are not in the PLN's service area) then there will be no electrification for underprivileged areas. There is no incentive for private sector to get in since providing electricity to remote area means a loss. And if there are areas that are interesting enough for private sector (with local government) to establish a local utility, then the tariff might be very high and eventually gives hard time for economic development. The new bill will not achieve anything except more confusion and chaos. If the president is dare enough, he will not sign the bill.

What we need now is energy conservation and stronger law enforcement on this matter. Better rational use of energy and not wasting rare resources.