**Title**: Energy in the North - Hafsah Halidah
**Date**: January, 14 2026
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Hafsah Halidah

00;00;00;19 - 00;00;05;25 [Hafsah Halidah] They call it in our electricity business plan, villages in complete darkness.

00;00;05;25 - 00;01;00;02 [Amanda Byrd] This week on energy in the North, I spoke with Hafsah Halidah, senior engineering specialist at the Research Center for Electrical Technology at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency in Jakarta. I met Hafsah at the Isolated Power Systems Connect workshop in Cairns, Australia, this past November. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world with around 286 million people, and the country is made up of thousands of islands. 99.8% of Indonesia has access to electricity, and a recently-elected government has set a mandate to reach 100% electrification of all Indonesian communities by 2030. That's delivering electricity to 185,000 homes in 140 remote villages and hamlets. And I started the conversation with Hafsah by asking what strategies are they using to meet the electrification target of these remote villages?

00;01;00;02 - 00;01;25;27 [Hafsah Halidah] We are using different strategies to electrify instead of like for example, these locations are located near to the grid that we can connect them to the grid, but right now it's so far. So we are using different measures. Like a compact battery unit, that is essentially a micro-solar integrated with a battery and small inverters that maybe two houses can use at the same time or for singular houses.

00;01;25;27 - 00;01;33;18 [Amanda Byrd] And so by electrification, you are saying there's communities out there that do not have electricity right now.

00;01;33;18 - 00;02;29;23 [Hafsah Halidah] Yes, at all. So like, we call it, I'm literally, translated from what they they call it in our electricity business plan, villages in complete darkness. So, yeah, they saying it like that because they don't have any of the energy and some of the already electrified villages, they have like six hours of electricity or until 12 hours of electricity. They are already thankful. So the people are very thankful because when they don't have any electricity and,, they have even though it's short. So, when people get the access that they started to buy more things, so like they started to buy a refrigerator, they start to buy TV and so on. And they are looking forward to have improved living conditions too, and then having a full 24 hour supply. Right. Because when they taste a little bit of electricity, they want more.

00;02;29;23 - 00;02;31;06 [Amanda Byrd] I can appreciate that.

00;02;31;06 - 00;02;31;17 [Hafsah Halidah] Yeah.

00;02;31;17 - 00;02;51;06 [Amanda Byrd] And so that is one of the issues that's happening people are getting a small amount of electricity, and then they want the modern conveniences, a refrigerator and a freezer and a television, and then it just compounds, and then there's not enough electricity on the grid to support that.

00;02;51;06 - 00;03;35;06 [Hafsah Halidah] Yeah. Essentially they can't do anything. So, for example, if they already bought their refrigerator but they cannot use it because the electricity is not continuous, so they instead using it as storage to put their clothes, for example. So it's not a refrigerator right now. And that's why the, the government wants PLN, the sole electricity provider in Indonesia, they want, government wants to target these first to make the electricity flows 24 hours. So they're prioritized, to, to fulfill the 24 hour electrification first and then afterwards, maybe reducing the diesel and so on.

00;03;35;06 - 00;03;37;25 [Amanda Byrd] So, the majority of communities are on diesel.

00;03;37;25 - 00;02;27;13 [Hafsah Halidah] Yes. Some of them are helped by theone that I mentioned with batteries. And they charge it with the, this cabinet that is connected to the PV. But I think that, the, the batteries and the cabinet is not long lasting solution because the batteries has a lifetime. So maybe afterwards PLN will try to connect them to maybe PV because they, there has been this regulation of because PLN is not allowed to buy a new diesel generators. So maybe they will add other generators, like gas generators or like, maybe PV and BESS to implement in these villages that is previously with the batteries and the, the cabinet.

00;04;27;13 - 00;04;37;17 [Amanda Byrd] Hafsah Halidah is a senior engineering specialist at the Research Center for Electrical Technology at Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency in Jakarta. And I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep