Awaiting Regulatory Certainty for Solar Energy Adoption

Fabby Tumiwa dalam konferensi pers Smart Transportation and Energy di Indonesia pada Kamis (9/11/2023)

Jakarta, November 9, 2023 – Solar power has the potential to accelerate renewable energy in Indonesia’s primary energy mix. However, developing the country’s solar power plants has proved challenging. The Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), Fabby Tumiwa, explained that Indonesia has the highest potential in solar energy. An IESR study shows that solar power in Indonesia could reach a technical potential and land suitability of 3,000-20,000 GWp. Despite this potential, there are regulatory challenges to developing solar energy in the country, particularly regarding solar PV. In 2022, the realized installed capacity of solar PV was only 271.6 MW, which was far below the planned capacity of 893.3 MW, based on data from the Directorate General of EBTKE of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

“Solar PV utilization is currently limited to around 10-15% of its capacity, which makes the economics of solar PV low and unattractive. In 2021-2022, the growth of rooftop solar PV has stagnated. However, since the beginning of this year, there have been efforts to revise the regulations to prevent uncertainty. The revision process is long and has even been discussed at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham). Unfortunately, the process has not been completed yet and still requires further coordination between Ministries and Institutions,” said Fabby Tumiwa at Thursday’s Smart Transportation and Energy in Indonesia press conference (9/11/2023).

 

Fabby Tumiwa mentioned the uncertainty must be resolved immediately with strong leadership from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Additionally, on Thursday (9/11/2023), Indonesia unveiled the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant, which has a capacity of 192 MWp, making it the biggest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia.

“The inauguration of the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant signifies the Indonesian Government’s commitment to developing solar energy. This project could not have been completed without the use of advanced technology and innovation from China, the world’s largest producer of solar energy technology. Considering Indonesia’s plan to increase the usage of renewable energy, we anticipate a significant demand for solar power plants in the coming years,” explained Fabby Tumiwa.

Indonesia’s Energy Transformation to Zero Emission

Fabby Tumiwa dalam acara Green Press Community 2023 pada Rabu (8/11/2023).

Jakarta, November 8, 2023 – The global climate crisis is humanity’s biggest challenge in the 21st century. The increase in global temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions is causing severe impacts such as extreme weather, increased extreme temperatures, rising sea levels, and harm to ecosystems. Indonesia, as one of the signatories of the Paris Agreement, has committed to reducing emissions. Indonesia has also submitted an Enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) document by increasing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target by about 2%. Previously in the Updated NDC, the unconditional emission reduction target was 29% to 31.89% by 2030, and with international assistance (conditional) it rose from 41% to 43.2%.

Reflecting on Indonesia’s latest ENDC, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), Fabby Tumiwa, explained that Indonesia’s climate target is not compatible with the ambition of the Paris Agreement to maintain the earth’s temperature rise at a level of 1.5C, and does not reflect the urgency of avoiding climate change whose impacts are now sweeping across the world.

“Based on the assessment conducted by Climate Action Tracker (CAT), Indonesia’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target is considered highly insufficient, leading to 2.4ºC. To be compatible, Indonesia’s GHG emissions must reach 850 MtCO2 in 2030 and NZE in 2050-2060. To do this, we need to reduce emissions in the energy sector more ambitiously,” explained Fabby Tumiwa at the Green Press Community 2023 event on Wednesday (8/11/2023). 

 

Fabby said that accelerating the use of renewable energy plays a key role in reducing GHG emissions. Based on an IESR study titled Beyond 443 GW Indonesia’s Infinite Renewable Energy Potentials, the technical potential of renewable energy in Indonesia reaches nearly 8,000 GW, with solar energy having the largest potential of around 6,700-7,700 GW. However, the energy transition requires regulatory, techno-economic, investment, and social support.

 

“This huge potential, if utilized optimally, will be able to meet all energy needs in Indonesia. IESR has projected that the country will require 1600 GW of energy capacity by 2050. However, this requirement can be met through 100% renewable energy sources, ultimately leading to zero emissions by 2050,” said Fabby Tumiwa. 

 

The energy transition can increase renewable energy capacity and create new opportunities and an equitable and inclusive energy transformation. Moreover, decarbonization and renewable energy technologies have become cheaper and more affordable. For this reason, Fabby encourages the government to immediately make a more ambitious plan to prevent the climate crisis in Indonesia.