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With PTBA Irrigation Solar Power Plant, 525 Tanjung Raja Farmers Harvest 3 Times a Year
PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) affirms its commitment to encourage the use of renewable energy by building Solar Power Plant (PLTS) for irrigation of agricultural land in Tanjung Raja Village, Muara Enim, South Sumatra, as one of its CSR programs.
This PLTS has been operating since 2020 with a capacity of 16.5 Kilowatt peak (kWp), enabling the farmers in Tanjung Raja Village to harvest up to 3 times a year reaching 567 tons. The irrigated land area is 63 hectares and there are about 525 farmers benefit from this PLTS irrigation.
According to Hopaini, the head of the Sehati Farmers Group in Tanjung Raja Village, the PLTS irrigation allows the harvest to increase to more than 3 times a year.
"In the Department of Agriculture’s terms, IP200 means two harvests a year. We will increase it to IP300. The target for the next two years is up to 5 harvests if possible provided that the irrigation working well," said Hopaini, who together with several other residents are also responsible for the maintenance of the PLTS irrigation system.
Prior to PLTS irrigation system, the farmers relied on rain-fed fields and only harvest once a year. The land was about to have crop failure several times due to the uncertain season and the difficult access to water sources.
"Although it is located quite close to the Enim River, the ricefields are surrounded by hills and blocked by roads and train stations," said Hopaini.
The irrigation pump used is a submersible type pump that has water containing mud suction ability. The pump capacity is 30 liters/second with a head reaching 30 meters. The pump is driven by electricity generated from 60 polycrystaline PV panels, with a capacity of 275 Watt peak (Wp) each, that line on the village bridge’s roof. Water from Enim River was sucked and delivered for 1 km into the intake tank measuring 3x3x2 m3 and then distributed to the rice fields.
This PLTS has been operating since 2020 with a capacity of 16.5 Kilowatt peak (kWp), enabling the farmers in Tanjung Raja Village to harvest up to 3 times a year reaching 567 tons. The irrigated land area is 63 hectares and there are about 525 farmers benefit from this PLTS irrigation.
According to Hopaini, the head of the Sehati Farmers Group in Tanjung Raja Village, the PLTS irrigation allows the harvest to increase to more than 3 times a year.
"In the Department of Agriculture’s terms, IP200 means two harvests a year. We will increase it to IP300. The target for the next two years is up to 5 harvests if possible provided that the irrigation working well," said Hopaini, who together with several other residents are also responsible for the maintenance of the PLTS irrigation system.
Prior to PLTS irrigation system, the farmers relied on rain-fed fields and only harvest once a year. The land was about to have crop failure several times due to the uncertain season and the difficult access to water sources.
"Although it is located quite close to the Enim River, the ricefields are surrounded by hills and blocked by roads and train stations," said Hopaini.
The irrigation pump used is a submersible type pump that has water containing mud suction ability. The pump capacity is 30 liters/second with a head reaching 30 meters. The pump is driven by electricity generated from 60 polycrystaline PV panels, with a capacity of 275 Watt peak (Wp) each, that line on the village bridge’s roof. Water from Enim River was sucked and delivered for 1 km into the intake tank measuring 3x3x2 m3 and then distributed to the rice fields.
