Bandung tea produced using hydroelectricity

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

When Rachmat Badruddin came up with an idea in 1999 to build a hydroelectric plant to cut diesel fuel costs, people laughed at him.

The same people ridiculed him for spending Rp 2.5 billion to realize this idea, saying it was inefficient and a waste of money, at a time when diesel fuel cost only Rp 600 per liter.

But Rachmat, owner of the KBP Chakra tea company, stayed true to his ambition.

With his own money he built a dam to retain water from Cikahuripan and Cimeri Rivers, to propel turbines to generate electricity.

"I persevered because I wanted to reduce my diesel fuel consumption and use a sustainable energy resource," Rachmat told The Jakarta Post.

His family bought the 800 hectare Dewata tea plantation from a Dutch businessman in 1956. The land is situated between 1,350 and 1,500 meters above sea level in a remote area on the slopes of Mount Tilu, two hours, over broken and rocky roads, outside Bandung. Perhaps this would explain why the state electricity company, PLN, has been reluctant to connect them to the power grid.

Each month Rachmat would order at least 25,000 liters of diesel fuel.

Waiting for diesel fuel supplies to arrive to feed his generators which powered his workers' quarters and four tea processing factories was stressful, he said.

"May the diesel tanker arrive safely and not roll over along the way," he would pray to keep his business running.

Using hydroelectricity, he hoped, would take away this worry, because until then, his business, its 800 workers and their families had depended on diesel for power.

Rachmat was fortunately able to get assistance for his project, including soft loans amounting to US$200,000 from USAID, along with support from many others, like the Directorate General of Electricity and Energy Demand.

Despite receiving instant funding, the project also encountered problems.

Director of KBP Chakra, Teguh Kustiono, said it was a difficult task to redirect water from the two rivers into the dam to propel the two turbines.

"While excavating into the mountain we had to anticipate the possibility of landslides, while making large canals to redirect the water, which made the process tedious," said Teguh.

The planned micro-hydropower facility was completed three years after its conception.

Each of the turbines, installed 60-meters beneath the dam, can generate 120 KW of electricity while using 600 liters of water per second.

Around 30 percent of the generator's capacity of 240 KW powers some 400 workers' homes. According to Teguh, each house is provided with 300 W of electricity since the workers use only a small number of electrical appliances.

"Most of them don't have refrigerators because it's very cold here. They may only use electricity for ironing, lighting and watching TV," said Teguh.

Most of the energy is used to process green, black and Japanese tea varieties, harvesting 5,000 tons of dried tea leaves from four factories annually.

"Previously, 0.6 liters of diesel was used to dry 1 kg of tea leaves. By using the micro hydroelectric unit we can replace up to 80 percent of our energy consumption," Teguh said.

Over the last year, however, droughts have reduced the flow of water in the two rivers, and the amount of hydroelectric power available.

"We use diesel alternately during the drought, but we are considering using old trees as firewood to dry tea leaves. In any case, we intend to totally phase out diesel fuel," said Teguh.

Rachmat said his company hoped to develop alternative energy sources to prevent unnecessary forest clearing.

"We have also empowered local residents who own idle land to plant tea. The trees are not just there to make money, but also serve to retain water and keep the ecosystem in balance," said Rachmat.

With the increasing price of diesel fuel and the reduction of government subsidies the hydroelectric plant has been a blessing for the plantation.

When the hydroelectric plant was launched in December 2002, the price of diesel fuel was Rp 1,150 per liter. It has since surged to Rp 4,900 per liter.