ANIEM

Algemeene Nederlandsch-Indische Elektriciteit-Maatschappij

General Netherlands East Indies Electricity Company

ANIEM was a private Dutch colonial utility company, started in 1914 and brought the very first formal electricity grid to Yogyakarta.

Powering the Sultan’s Palace, colonial offices, and the elite Kotabaru neighborhood using energy piped all the way from a hydro-plant in Semarang. Today, only three original substations remain: Babon ANIEM (Yogyakarta), Babon ANIEM (Kotabaru) and Babon ANIEM (Kotagede), along with a few rare iron lamp posts called Cagak ANIEM.

Next time you are exploring the city, keep an eye out for these cool pieces of living history hidden in plain sight!