Malang – Micro Hydro Power Plant (PembangkitListrikTenagaMikroHidro/PLTMH) of Muhammadiyah University of Malang (UniversitasMuhammadiyah Malang/UMM) had operated since 2007 and succeeded in saving almost 25% of expense cost for electricity bill and currently was in the process of finishing PLTMH II that was not much different compared to its predecessor.
It was as stated by the Vice Rector II of UMM, Fauzan, when he met the editorial board of JawaPos Radar Malang in UMM Campus, Malang, East Java on Wednesday (01/21). Fauzan added that the PLTMH II, which was being built, would be done and could be operated in February 2015, “Insya Allah next month, PLTMH II could be officially launched,” he explained. Technically, he thought PLTMH II would have some differences. The penstock, which was made in vertical form because they used the steady flow of Sengkaling II river, would be smaller in size. The turbine used would also be different too, smaller compared to the first one. Whereas, since the water flow had 45 degree tilt, PLTMH I used bigger turbine since it also had bigger water debit. As the result PLTMH II could only generate 60-80 KWh, lesser than PLTMH I that could reached 100 KWh.
Furthermore, Fauzan explained that UMM could be the only campus in the world that had PLTMH. As it was planted within the campus ground, visitors were attracted to study it further so that it could be an academic tourist attraction. “This is another benefit of owning the power plant. Besides it can save electricity, it can also be an academic tourist attraction and be the object of students’ practical training, including the students from other universities,” he added.
On the other hand, The Head of Renewable Energy Development Team (Tim PengembanganEnergiTerbarukan) of UMM, Suwingyo explained that currently UMM did not only develop PLTMH within the campus ground. They also received offers to build and supervise the development of PLTMH in various regions. One of the offers was from PLTMH Sumbermaron, located in KecamatanPagelaran, Kabupaten Malang. There, UMM was able to build PLTMH that could supply electricity used for fresh water pump, which was distributed to more than 1600 households. (nas/umm)(mac)