Jakarta, May 27 -- The Center for Public Policy Studies (Puskepi) said strengthening Sumatra's electricity backbone is critical to improving Indonesia's power resilience after recent large-scale outages underscored vulnerabilities in the island's interconnected grid system.

Puskepi Director Sofyano Zakaria said the strategy includes expanding 500-kilovolt (kV), 275-kV and 150-kV transmission networks outlined in Indonesia's 2025-2034 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL).

"Strengthening Sumatra's electricity backbone will create a more integrated grid system from Aceh to Lampung," Zakaria said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added that fast-response power plants, upgraded protection systems and predictive digital maintenance are als...