Solar Energy Stability Solution Leads ITS Team to Win Two Awards at NEST UI 2025

Image: The POWERITS team achieved a remarkable feat at NEST UI 2025 by winning 1st place and Best Presentation in the Idea Competition category.

Surabaya, F-ELECTICS ITS – Students from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) have once again achieved a proud accomplishment. The POWERITS team won 1st place and Best Presentation at the National Electrical System Tournament (NEST) UI 2025, a prestigious competition that brings together the best ideas and innovations in the field of electricity from various universities in Indonesia.

The POWERITS team consists of three ITS Electrical Engineering students specializing in power system engineering. I Ketut Rama Adi Widhiarta serves as team leader, accompanied by Akmal Zuhdi and Dionisius Davis as members. Rama explained that the division of roles within the team was collaborative, with an emphasis on strengthening ideas, drafting papers, and preparing presentations. “The three of us are from Electrical Engineering with a focus on power systems, so technical discussions can be quite intense and complementary,” said Rama.

POWERITS’ participation in NEST UI 2025 stemmed from academic encouragement. Rama said that the spirit to compete arose after seeing many of his classmates participating in similar events. “It started simply; we saw that quite a few of our classmates were participating in this competition, so we were motivated to try and challenge ourselves,” said Rama. From this motivation, an idea was born that was not only technically sound but also relevant to the real needs of society.

In this competition, POWERITS presented a paper titled “SWARMGRID: Virtual Inertia Decentralization Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm to Ensure Solar Energy Stability in Remote Indonesian Power Grids.” Rama explained that the innovation focused on optimizing solar power plants (PLTS) in remote areas to maintain system stability. The concept of virtual inertia is used to provide “artificial inertia” to the PLTS system, so that when a disturbance occurs, the system does not immediately experience a drastic decline. “This virtual inertia makes the system seem to have inertia like a conventional generator,” explained Rama. Meanwhile, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to help make the best decisions in balancing power, so that system stability can be optimally maintained.

POWERITS’ journey to victory was not without challenges. The long competition stages coincided with midterm and final exams, which became a test of time and energy management. Rama revealed that the full paper was written during ETS, while the final round took place in the middle of the EAS schedule. Another challenge came from mobility, as the team had to travel by land from Surabaya to Depok, which was quite energy-consuming. To overcome this, the team chose to prepare the presentation manuscript and slides early on. “We used the travel time to practice the presentation, even though there were still revisions to the pitch deck on the day of the event,” said Rama.

According to Rama, winning 1st place and Best Presentation was not only determined by the technical strength of the idea, but also by the impact it offered. He believes that the solution proposed by POWERITS has added value because it targets electricity problems in remote villages. “In our opinion, no matter how sophisticated an innovation is, it will be a waste if its impact is not directly felt by the community,” said Rama. For the Best Presentation category, the team’s readiness in delivering the material and answering the judges’ questions was a key factor. Rama highlighted the challenging question and answer session format, where all the judges’ questions were given at once before being answered without immediate feedback. “We felt that we were able to answer all the questions correctly and saw a positive response from the judges,” he said.

Image: ITS POWERITS Team Wins Double at the 2025 NEST UI National Event.

Presentation strategy was also a key focus. Rama explained that the team aimed to convey highly technical ideas using simple, easy-to-understand language. Even when they had to delve into deep technical aspects, the team used analogies that were familiar to everyday life. “Even though the judges were all experts in the field of electrical engineering and some of them researched virtual inertia, we still chose a simple approach,” explained Rama. Visually, the pitch deck slides were designed to be minimalist, concise, and straight to the point without a lot of text.

From this competition, POWERITS gained many valuable lessons. Time and energy management were the main lessons, especially since they had to balance academic demands and the competition. In addition, Rama emphasized the importance of mastering the material. “If we really master what we are presenting, the presentation and Q&A session will flow smoothly,” he said.

The POWERITS team decided to focus more on their studies as they entered their sixth semester, without completely closing the door on opportunities to participate in other competitions. In closing, Rama shared a message for students who want to participate in similar events.

“Don’t be too afraid to register or try. Focus on the things you can control, maximize your efforts, and let the results that are beyond your control take their course,” said Rama.