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Again, UI Student Wins First Place at LKTIN 2022 Thanks to Renewable Energy Design for Indonesia

“Indonesia has a big problem with the presence of renewable energy, namely planning errors in choosing a power plant for an archipelagic country. This results in the unsustainability of the power plant,” said Rhaditia Kurnia Asyuri, in her presentation at the National Scientific Writing Competition (LKTIN) Category Masters. Thanks to her presentation with the theme “Transition to Clean and Sustainable Energy”, Rhaditia won First Place in the writing competition.

Rhaditia is a student of the Multidisciplinary Masters Program in Energy Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia (TSE FTUI). In writing this scientific paper, Radhitia was guided by Dr.- Ing Eko Adhi Setiawan, IPU., FTUI Lecturer who is also Director of the Research Institute for Tropical Renewable Energy Center (TREC) FTUI.

“From this paper, I want to show that renewable energy, if designed properly, can have a very significant impact on a region. My scientific work solves in the form of an articulation problem, a basic model of system dynamics, based on the Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) simulation that has been developed previously,” said Rhadit.

For the penetration and distribution of renewable energy (EBT) to be published massively, awareness is needed that Indonesia is a maritime country and has a tropical climate. The use of fossil fuels, the production of which is concentrated in only a few areas in Indonesia, results in very high inter-island fuel costs. In addition to not being cost-effective, this also causes the price of fuel in the disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas of Indonesia to be very high.

“Indonesia, which has a tropical climate, has abundant potential and variety of EBT. Based on the research results, the simple solution I offer is to install solar panels or other innovations from solar power plants, depending on the potential that exists on each island. If this is done immediately, Indonesia will be able to eliminate inter-island fossil fuel costs, ease the burden on the government, especially in subsidies, and people will not have to pay expensive electricity bills every month, especially for people living in islands,” said Rhadit.

“In this paper, Rhadit uses the CLD approach to find solutions to the problem topic. CLD is a general approach used to see what factors play an important role in an area. The CLD approach was developed based on the data received through the distribution of questionnaires and interview sessions with the authorities. CLD simulation is used to describe feedback loops that affect system dynamics in an area,” said Dr.-Ing. Eko Adhi related to the approach used.

Rhaditia visited Mecan Island and Sabira Island to conduct research. Based on his findings, Rhaditia recommended the full use of PLTS on Sabira Island to provide cost savings for local communities. A clean and beautiful environment will also be created thanks to the use of this solar power plant. Moreover, ecotourism destinations can also be created due to the use of clean energy without damaging the environment. Investment is also created because the tourism and ecotourism sectors have their markets.

Met on a separate occasion, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU, Dean of FTUI, expressed his pride in Rhadit’s achievements. “From this research, it is proven that FTUI students can produce superior renewable energy research and have a positive impact on society and the environment. Islands that depend on tourism destinations also benefit from this access to electricity. Active community collaboration also plays a role in achieving the sustainability of EBT plants.”

The competition, which took place from April 18 to June 4, 2022, carries the theme “Saving the Environment and Relevance to the G20.” This competition was held by the Indonesian Environmental Experts Association (IESA) and supported by PT Penjaminan Infrastruktur Indonesia (Persero).

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Public Communication Bureau
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia

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