Rural Electrification Program in Indonesia: Comparing SEHEN and SHS Program

Abstract

In 2014, the Indonesian government had targets to obtain 80% of electrification ratio and 98.9% of rural electrification ratio. Extending the grid and off-grid connection has been done to obtain the targets. This paper aims to compare two main programs on rural electrification namely Super Extra Energy Saving (Super Ekstra Hemat Energi, SEHEN) that belongs to the PLN (state-owned company in electricity) and the Solar Home System (SHS) that is financed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR). Indonesia started the rural electrification program in the late 1950s, but how to provide electricity in a sustainable ways both organizationally and institutionally still becomes a big challenge. The experiences from East Nusa Tenggara provinces showed that both SEHEN and SHS can instantly improve electrification ratio, but government needs to synchronize the technical, administrative, and financial aspect from the two programs. Without any improvements in designing the program, we argue that the existing program is not sustainable.