Interview with IYGA2021 Grand Prix Winner

Name: Bambang Prihambodo
Designation: Technical Project Manager - PGGA
Company: PT. Hitachi Sakti Energy Indonesia

Tell us a little about yourself and your winning IYGA2021 project

I am the Technical Project Manager in PGGA (Power Grids’ Grid Automation) unit of PT. Hitachi Sakti Energy Indonesia and I take care of the technical aspect of every project in coordination with the Engineering Unit.

Our winning project is the Semau Island NTT 250kVA Micro Grid.

In this project, I led the technical engineering team and was responsible for the technical and engineering aspects of this project, especially in the design concept stage.

The purpose of this project was the de-dieselization of Semau island. We implemented Hitachi’s advanced and smart hybrid microgrid technology and successfully reduced the fossil fuel consumption of existing diesel generators by maximizing the use of existing solar PV power and existing lead-acid battery. This microgrid connects businesses and households to a reliable and green energy source, producing 100% renewable energy supply during hot sunny days as the system can go into Diesel-off mode during specific hours in the day.

Will you share how your winning project embodied the Hitachi Values - Harmony, Sincerity and Pioneering Spirit?

Harmony: Since we were new to this technology, we had a lot to learn before implementing this technology in the project. We required close collaborations with many stakeholders and had to ask for a lot of support from our global colleagues during implementation. To foster a mutual understanding among all the stakeholders, many discussions were held with our main contractor and end customers to understand their requirements so as to achieve a feasible implementation to meet those specific requirements.

Sincerity: Our team had put in tremendous effort to overcome hindrances in the installation and testing stages of the project. Especially because the project is located on a remote island, we had limited internet connection and at the same time, we must work around many restrictions put in place because of the pandemic. With endless experiments and tests of the system program logic at the site, we had a lot of modifications in our program logic to meet the requirements. Fortunately, we had the support from our global colleagues during the execution regardless of weekends or holidays, and the team persevered which saw many benefits for island community.

Pioneering Spirit: This is the first “smart micro gird” project successfully implemented in Indonesia.

Words to encourage colleagues to join IYGA2022

Please do not think that your project has few benefits and that it is not interesting to share. Each project has its excellent and valuable moments

Sharing those moments in IYGA2022 will certainly inspire our colleagues to embody Hitachi values in their project.