NZMATES News

New Zealand-Maluku Access to Renewable Energy Support (NZMATES) has once again extended its support to PT PLN’s Regional Unit for Maluku and North Maluku (MMU).

The process of renewable energy penetration in Maluku Province is increasingly evident in its development. This is reflected in the changing energy consumption patterns in government sectors and academic learning processes.

New Zealand-Maluku Access to Renewable Energy Support (NZMATES) provided Training on Stages and Methods for Carrying out Feasibility Studies for the Village Electricity (Listrik Desa, LISDES) Program for PLN Maluku and North Maluku (MMU) staff. This training was held in the MMU Region PLN Building Hall, Ambon City, Maluku, Wednesday-Thursday, January 18-19, 2023.

On July 4th, 2022, NZMATES held the inauguration ceremony of the Pūngao Pattimura Mini-grid Training Lab. The inauguration ceremony was attended by representatives from Bappeda Maluku, PLN, Dinas ESDM Maluku, and Pattimura University. The event started with online remarks from the New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, Kevin Burnett, as well as in-person speeches from the Head of Bappeda Maluku, Dr. Anton Lailossa S.T., M.Si., and Rector UNPATTI, Prof. Dr. M.J. Saptenno S.H., M.Hum.

On Thursday, 30th June 2022, Dinas ESDM Maluku with the support of NZMATES programme held a dissemination event for Maluku's Provincial Energy Plan (RUED) 2022 - 2050. The event was attended by stakeholders in Maluku's energy sector, including Assistant for Economic and Development of the Regional Secretariat Maluku Province, Ibu dr. Meykal Pontoh, as well as the Head of Maluku's Energy and Mineral Resources Agency (Dinas ESDM), Pak Abdul Haris. 

After two years of online meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic, NZMATES' sixth bi-annual Programme Steering Group (PSG) Meeting  was finally held offline on Monday, 30th May 2022, at the New Zealand Embassy Jakarta. 

Residents of Pulau Tiga, which consists of 56 households and a small resort, currently rely on a diesel generator that operates only 12 hours a day for electricity access. Consider the economic and livelihood potential that residents of Pulau Tiga could achieve with reliable electricity access, supporting PLN in the refurbishment of Pulau Tiga solar PV mini-grid was one of the first projects initiated by NZMATES.

As part of NZMATES efforts to build RE-related capacities of work health and safety, NZMATES together with Dinas ESDM held "Electrical Power Hazard and Industrial Workplace Safety Training for Solar Plant System". The 3 days training was carried for three days from May 23rd, 2022, to May 25th, 2022. 

NZMATES held its 7th Technical Committee (TC) meeting virtually on Thursday, 7th April 2022. The meeting was facilitated by the Maluku Development Planning Board (Bappeda), and attended by Dinas ESDM Maluku, PLN MMU, and NZMATES.

NZMATES presented the progress activities up until March 2022, and discussed the work plan until October 2022. Despite the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation, NZMATES has been able to achieve an increase in its capacity building activities. NZMATES also received useful information and inputs from our stakeholders during the meeting.