On November 16-19, 2015, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) participated in the training on Smart Grid Strategies and Planning in PLN Training Centre Semarang, Indonesia.  The training, organized by Renewable Energy Support Programme for ASEAN (ASEAN-RESP), jointly implemented by ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), was designed in cooperation with Siemens AG to assist the State Electricity Company (PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara Persero/PLN) in planning and implementing smart grid technology in their existing infrastructures, in more systematic and strategic ways. In this training, around 26 participants from PLN Headquarter, PLN Smart Grid Team and various divisions and regions, learned and shared knowledge about smart grid strategies and planning with experts from Siemens Germany, Singapore and Indonesia. The training was officially opened on November 16^th by Mr. Tjahyono (Manager of PLN Training Centre Semarang), Mr. Bambang Daryanto (Chief of PLN Smart Grid Team), and Dr. Rudolf Rauch (Director for the Energy Programme Indonesia/ASEAN).

The training topics covered basic knowledge of smart grid, e.g. introduction to smart grid, the challenge and strategy set-up and the technical approaches (e g. SCADA, DMS, Smart Metering and Distributed Generations). All participants, particularly from PLN Smart Grid Team, were very active and eager to learn. Participants acknowledged that the knowledge gained during the training will be used by their PLN Training Centre in the future.

(Photo caption: Dr. Sanjayan Velautham, ACE Executive Director and Mr. Gu Hongbin, CREEI Deputy Director General with the joint publication. Credit: EPC).