Jakarta and its satellite city of South Tangerang today experienced the first major power outage since the great blackout that affected tens of millions in the Western half of Java earlier this month.
According to state power utility PLN, parts of Central Jakarta, West Jakarta, Bintaro and South Tangerang were hit with power outages due to a malfunction of a steam power generator in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, which triggered outages in 11 main relay stations throughout the city.
“We apologize for the power outage that occurred in the Muara Karang sub-system at 2:11pm,” PLN VP of Public Relations Dwi Suryo Abdulloh said in a written statement, as picked up by Detik.
Dwi added that power is being restored as 10 of the 11 relay stations have been switched on as of this afternoon.
The outage isn’t expected to last more than three hours and there are already reports of power being restored in certain subdistricts, such as Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta and Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta.
On August 4, a massive blackout — lasting more than 12 hours in most parts — affected some 30 million people in the Greater Jakarta area and tens of millions more in the Western half of Java. During that time, there were numerous disruptions to public services, such as Jakarta’s electric-powered MRT, as well as sporadic disruptions in cell phone coverage.
PLN claimed the outage was caused by incidents at multiple points within their power grid. But the police were also charged with investigating the cause of the electrical failure, and said their preliminary findings showed that tall trees touching power lines were likely culprits.
More recently, the National Police say they have reason to believe that cyberterrorism may have been behind the blackout, though they have yet to present solid evidence to back that claim.
Related: Jakarta residents sue PLN over their koi dying during great Java blackout
