Semarang, 8 December 2022 – The Provincial Government of Central Java has consistently strengthened their commitment, role and shared responsibility for implementing the energy transition to achieve sustainable and environmentally friendly development. Collaborating with the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), the Central Java Provincial Government held the “Central Java Stakeholders’ Gathering: Energy Transition for Low Carbon Regional Development” to share developments and good practices that have been carried out in Central Java.
Taj Yasin Maimoen, Deputy Governor of Central Java, said in his remarks that the energy transition is crucial to reduce CO2 emissions that cause climate disasters. For this reason, he said, it is necessary to promote a green economy as one of the main parts of the energy transition by developing industries in the field of new and renewable energy, sustainable natural resource management, developing environmentally friendly production processes.
“In developing the energy sector, the government of Central Java has issued Local Regulation no. 12/2018 Concerning Regional Energy General Plans. As a follow-up to this regulation, Governor Regulation number 29 of 2021 was stipulated, which contains instructions for its implementation. The governor’s regulation emphasizes community participation in the implementation of new renewable energy, for example, community participation in the development of new renewable energy in Central Java through the Energy Independent Village program,” said Taj Yasin. He added that the availability of energy on a community scale, if supported, would leverage economic growth.
Fabby Tumiwa, Executive Director of IESR, added that leadership, regional innovation and collaboration are the keys to driving green economic growth and energy transition.
“The community can be involved in driving their energy transition with their efforts and support from the government. This is called energy transition cooperation. The energy transition requires a large amount of effort and investment, so contributions from the community must also be accommodated. The practice so far carried out in Central Java can become a reference in many regions in developing renewable energy and encouraging low-carbon development,” said Fabby.
Furthermore, the Head of the Central Java Provincial Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Office, Sujarwanto Dwiatmoko, explained that the Regional Energy General Plan (RUED) would later be integrated into the Low Carbon Development Action Plan (RAPRK) and the Regional Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMD). Thus, the Central Java RPJMD already contains a commitment to building environmentally friendly energy to achieve the goals of food and energy sovereignty. The office of EMR Central Java builds cooperation with various parties to achieve this goal, one of which is with IESR.
“In collaboration with IESR, in 2019, the Central Java Provincial Government has made a big commitment to the Central Java Solar Province. Since then, the capacity of rooftop PLTS in Central Java has increased from 0.1 MWp in 2019 to 22 MWp in 2022,” said Sujarwanto.
This progress has made other agencies such as the Environment and Forestry Service of Central Java Province, the Office of Industry and Trade (Disperindag) of Central Java Province, and the Regional Owned Enterprise (BUMD) PT Jateng Petro Energi (JPEN) join hands with IESR in glossing the energy transition and development low carbon in Central Java Province.
Widi Hartanto, Head of the Environment and Forestry Service for Central Java Province, said that waste generated by industry and society can be processed into an energy source. For this reason, his party is working with IESR, among others, to carry out studies on reducing emissions through managing waste and waste into renewable energy, building capacity for stakeholders regarding reducing greenhouse gas emissions through waste and waste management and utilizing renewable energy.
“We have fostered the climate village program (Proklim), around 525 Proklim have received certificates from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and we are trying to collaborate with Energy Independent Village,” added Widi.
As a contributor to 34% of economic growth in Central Java, the Head of the Central Java Provincial Office of Industry and Trade, M. Arif Sambodo, acknowledged that the industrial sector is also responsible for producing carbon emissions. In collaboration with IESR, the Department of Industry and Trade is preparing a Map for the Development of Renewable Energy Utilization in the Industrial Sector and Industrial Areas. Moreover, his party will initiate a Partnership Network between Metal Small and Medium Industries (IKM) in Central Java and the Solar Panel Industry so that they can become part of the supply chain and increase Local content requirements (TKDN).
“Regarding the substitution of imported products, we need to increase domestic components. Central Java has metal potential, which has become tier 2 as a major automotive supply chain supplier in Indonesia,” Arif explained.
PT Jateng Petro Energi, through M. Iqbal, Main Director of JPEN, in collaboration with IESR and other partners, will carry out three big strategies to encourage energy transition efforts with solar power and clean mobility, namely strengthening ecosystem institutions, solopreneurship or creating green jobs and capacity building.
“We will socialize solar panels for Regional Apparatus Work Unit (SKPD) in Central Java province and provide Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (SPKLU) to support the acceleration of the use of battery-based electric vehicles,” he said.
Questioning the relatively small regional authority over the renewable energy sub-affairs related to the energy transition Tavip Rubiyanto, Head of Sub-department of ESDM Directorate of Synchronization of Regional Government Affairs I, Directorate General of Development and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, said that his party was preparing a Presidential Decree as a follow-up to Law No. 23/2014 on Regional Government. This is done so that the authority of the local government in carrying out the energy transition is more flexible.
“Anticipating the dynamics of development at the national and regional levels, it can be further regulated in a Presidential Decree for the division of functions so that it can strengthen regional authority so that it can play a bigger role in achieving the energy transition target,” Tavip explained.
In addition to presentations from the four institutions, the “Central Java Stakeholders’ Gathering: Energy Transition for Low Carbon Regional Development” also presented a dialogue with Achmad Husein, Banyumas Regent, Djoko Siswanto, Secretary General of the National Energy Council (DEN), Tavip Rubiyanto, Head of Sub-department of ESDM Directorate of Synchronization of Regional Government Affairs I, Directorate General of Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, M. Firdauz Muttaqin, Deputy Head of Bank Indonesia Representative for Central Java Province, and Ignatius Iswanto Santoso, General Manager Engineering, PT Djarum OASIS Kretek Factory.
In the dialogue, generally, the speakers underlined the need to carry out an energy transition in cooperation with the community, accompanied by support from the local government by issuing regional regulations which can become the basis for investors in the development of renewable energy in the regions, the application of green financing from financial institutions and implementation of sustainable practices in the industrial and commercial sectors.
