The Coca-Cola Company

Essential Hydro Plant Opens In Indonesia

April 28, 2006 edition

The April 19 opening of the first micro-hydro power plant in Krueng Kala, Indonesia, is the latest in a series of Coca-Cola System efforts to help aid this tsunami-affected region's long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The village of Krueng Kala, 60 kilometers from the city of Banda Aceh, was so severely hit by the December 2004 tsunami that the community's entire infrastructure was washed out to the sea, including the electricity system. Only a few families and houses survived.

Aid organizations have been working hard to help this devastated community by building new schools and houses. But a stable electricity source, an essential element to long-term reconstruction, was not available to the village. In cooperation with IBEKA (a local nongovernment organization specializing in renewable energy) and the Nurani Dunia Foundation relief agency, our Company built a small-scale power plant that uses water as its sole source of energy. This simple, eco-friendly power plant is ideal for the people of Krueng Kala, as their village is situated right next to a fast-flowing river.

The 2.6 Billion Rupiah (about US$30,000) construction of the power plant involved the local community from the outset. Local citizens helped with location surveys and planning, as well as the building process itself. The process helped the villagers understand how the power plant works and also helped foster a strong sense of local belonging and ownership. A village cooperative will manage the plant operation, which will have an installed capacity of 40 kilovolts and will be able to supply electricity for the village's 200 households, which up to now have depended on a high cost fuel generator.

Other Coca-Cola contributions to Aceh, part from emergency needs (such as mineral water, blankets, foods, and medicines) have included the donation of vehicles and communication tools, the building of 11 modular and permanent schools, a hydro-geological survey and a series of community economic empowerment activities. Empowerment activities include helping to establish a ceramic workshop, and providing of a fleet of fishing boats and a series of shopping kiosks.