Background
Indonesia’s energy sector is heavily reliant on coal, with coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) generating more than half of the nation’s electricity. As of 2023, coal accounted for about 60% of the country’s total power generation capacity, with 86 coal plants producing approximately 40 GW of power. However, despite the government’s efforts to transition to renewable energy (RE), progress has been slow. RE currently makes up only around 12% of the national energy mix, far from the 23% target by 2025. This slow adoption of renewables is due to several factors, including economic dependency on coal, regulatory barriers, and insufficient infrastructure to support RE expansion.
The Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP), introduced in 2023, underscores the urgent need for a coal phase-out to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy. The CIPP stresses that phasing out coal is essential for Indonesia to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. The government has planned to gradually retire certain coal plants by 2030, but the reality is complex as many new coal plants are still under construction. Moreover, a significant number of coal plants serve captive industrial needs, further complicating efforts to reduce coal dependency and integrate renewable energy sources into the grid.
The rise of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE), such as wind and solar, brings additional challenges related to grid stability. VRE is inherently intermittent, with energy production depending on weather conditions, leading to fluctuations in power supply. To accommodate these fluctuations and ensure a stable electricity supply, Indonesia’s grid must become more flexible. Grid flexibility refers to the system’s ability to respond to rapid changes in supply and demand, whether by adjusting generation levels, storing energy, or shifting loads. This flexibility is key to enabling a higher share of VRE while maintaining grid stability.
As more renewable energy comes online, the role of CFPPs must evolve from being baseload power suppliers to more flexible providers that can ramp up or down depending on demand. Making coal plants more flexible involves reducing their minimum load, increasing ramp-up and ramp-down rates, and improving start-up and shut-down times. the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) through the Green Energy Transition Indonesia (GETI) project, supported by the British Embassy Jakarta, aims to identify technological modifications necessary to enhance the flexibility of Indonesia’s coal plants and develop a model to evaluate the impact of these changes on the energy transition
Proposal Timeline:
Bidders must send a copy of the proposal and all files via email to Project Manager GETI IESR at erina@iesr.or.id and cc to warih@iesr.or.id and alifiadarmayanti@iesr.or.id no more than 17:00 Indonesia Eastern Time (WIB) at Wednesday, 14 May 2025. Please input “RFP Response – Research Consultant for Coal Flexibility” in Subject email.
RFP-Research-Consultant-for-Coal-Flex-Technological-Assessment
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