IETO 2024: Indonesia Needs to Build Momentum to Reach Peak Energy Sector Emissions in 2030

Jakarta, December 12, 2023 – Indonesia aims to reach peak greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2035 and gradually move towards net zero emission (NZE) by 2060 or earlier. The energy sector in Indonesia is currently a major source of emissions, with nearly 90.4 percent of the country’s domestic energy supply coming from fossil fuels. Therefore, the transition to renewable energy is crucial in reducing emissions.

Unfortunately, the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) observed that the trend of renewable energy development tends to slow down, reaching only 0.97 GW of the 3.4 GW target in the fourth quarter of 2023. This slow progress will make it difficult for Indonesia to reduce its emissions and meet the decarbonization target in the power sector. Moreover, with rapidly increasing emissions from the demand sector, Indonesia is at risk of not reaching its peak emissions. Therefore, it is crucial to have high emission reduction ambition and strong political commitment to achieve the target.

The discussion of Indonesia’s efforts to reach peak emissions in 2030, which has the potential to be a milestone in the transformation to renewable energy on a large scale or to end hopes of achieving the NZE target sooner, is the main topic in IESR’s flagship report entitled Indonesia Energy Transition Outlook (IETO) 2024.

The Executive Director of IESR, Fabby Tumiwa, stated that this year’s IETO 2024 is more comprehensive in monitoring Indonesia’s energy transition development and projection. Tumiwa mentioned that Indonesia has already released a plan.

The IETO 2024 report states that for Indonesia to meet the emission target of 250 MtCO2e/y by 2030, as agreed upon in the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), it must reduce its coal and diesel power plants by 4.29 GW by 2030. Furthermore, Indonesia needs to increase its renewable energy development by at least 30.5 GW by 2030 to achieve this goal.

Pintoko Aji, Renewable Energy Analyst of IESR, said that the high penetration of variable renewable energy (solar and wind power) will make the concept of baseload plants or plants that operate continuously with high capacity irrelevant.

“To incorporate more variable renewable energy (VRE), Indonesia’s electricity system requires a flexible and responsive infrastructure. This means that the power system must be able to adapt to fluctuating loads and respond to the variability of electricity production from VRE sources. To achieve this, it is necessary to thoroughly review contractual restrictions, such as legal contract modifications from take-or-pay to take-and-pay, and to implement flexibility incentives.,” said Pintoko Aji.

IESR encourages the government to show stronger political will and concrete steps to accelerate renewable energy penetration. In addition, the decarbonization strategy must be implemented across all sectors to support each other. IESR believes that the new president who will be elected in the 2024 election must create momentum for the energy transition from the beginning of his leadership.

All discussions on the status and analysis of the energy sector to accelerate the energy transition are summarized in the Indonesia Energy Transition Outlook (IETO) 2024 and published since 2017 with the Indonesia Clean Energy Outlook (ICEO), which then transformed into IETO in 2019.

“In addition to summarizing the course of Indonesia’s energy transition over the past year, this IETO comprehensively projects sectoral policies in each energy sector and contrasts them with long-term targets. This can be an input for policymakers and stakeholders in the electricity, transportation, industry, and building sectors to improve their sectoral emission mitigation targets and implementation levels,” explained Deon Arinaldo, Program Manager of Energy Transformation, IESR.

 

IESR will host the Indonesia Energy Transition Outlook 2024 report launch on December 15, 2023. Don’t miss the chance to register and participate in this momentous event. Visit s.id/IETO2024 to secure your spot today.

Comprehensive Action for Indonesia’s Energy Transition

Jakarta, 12 December 2023 – The energy transition journey in Indonesia in 2023 is entering a consolidation phase, which means that a number of policies that emerged in the 2020-2023 period need to be synchronized so that their implementation can accelerate steps towards one big goal, namely limiting the increase in earth’s temperature to level 1 .5 degrees Celsius aligned with the Paris Agreement pathway.

Fabby Tumiwa, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), in an online media briefing (12/12) held by IESR, stated that there are a number of enabling conditions that determine the success of the energy transition.

“There are 4 enabling conditions for a successful energy transition, namely, policy & regulatory framework, funding & investment support, technology application, as well as social impact & community support,” said Fabby.

Fabby also added that there have been a number of energy transition initiatives since 2020, such as RUPTL 2021, the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) agreement, and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). The existence of these various agreements is good considering that until 2020, there were no regulations regarding the energy transition, but the most important thing is the implementation of these various policies.

Pintoko Aji, IESR renewable energy analyst, said that the energy transition (in Indonesia) must be carried out comprehensively in all sectors, not limited to the power sector alone.

“The ultimate goal of this energy transition is to reduce emissions, so energy transition efforts must be comprehensive, not limited to the power sector alone. Industry and transportation, for example, also need to start working on it because currently there are not many concrete (actionable) policies in that sector,” said Pintoko.

Yunus Saefulhak, Head of the Energy Policy and Conference Facilitation Bureau, National Energy Council (DEN), in the same forum also explained that currently DEN is working on a revision of the National Energy Policy (Kebijakan Energi Nasional, KEN) to align various national targets with developments in international energy transition commitments and the strategy.

“This revision is urgent to carry out because energy policy needs to be in line with climate change policy, and a grand national energy strategy has also been prepared as input for KEN & RUEN updates,” said Yunus.

One of the KEN renewal points is that the new renewable energy mix in 2025 will reach 17 – 19 percent, and in 2060 it will reach 70-72 percent.

Various policy developments and adjusted targets need to be continuously monitored and guarded. The Institute for Essential Services Reform has monitored various developments in the Indonesian energy sector since 2017 and outlined them in a main report entitled Indonesia Energy Transition Outlook. In 2023, IESR will return and launch the Indonesia Energy Transition Outlook 2024 report, on December 15 2023. Follow the launch either in person (limited capacity) or online by registering at s.id/IETO2024

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