Development of sustainable power and water supply for remote areas and disaster response and reconstruction in Indonesia

This paper presents a finalist project proposal in the Mondialogo Engineering Award 2007 that was constructed through international cooperation between two student groups from Curtin University of Technology, Australia and Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. The project proposes a development of sustainable power and water supply, by mean of mini-grid hybrid power system with reverse osmosis desalination plant as a deferrable load, for remote areas and disaster response and reconstruction in Indonesia. As a result of recent disasters that have hit Indonesia, many people have lost their access to a reliable power and water supply. Additionally, there are many remote areas and islands that still have no appropriate electricity supply due to geographical conditions that hinder the development of an electricity grid connection because of economic reasons. This paper describes concept of system design process, intercultural dialogue between two student groups from different countries, preliminary site visits on the disaster locations in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and previous experimental results on 5 kVA mini-grid hybrid power conditioner system, a reverse osmosis desalination plant rated at 5.5 kWh/day, and the upgrading of PV arrays for solar water pumping system (SPWS) rated at 375 W, all are performed at Curtin University of Technology. Through this project, students from Australia and Indonesia collaborated to participate in attaining The United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, especially on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.