Jakarta, August 21, 2024 – The existence of businesses and industries committed to using renewable energy can be a prime mover for the adoption of domestic solar power plants. Industrial customers currently take the largest share of rooftop PV capacity.
Toby Walker, Policy Manager of RE100, at the Indonesia Solar Summit (ISS) 2024 stated that there is an increasing trend of interest from industry to obtain electricity based on renewable energy.
“When a company makes a climate commitment, the first thing they will look at is energy, operational systems, and supply chains. This is an opportunity for the Indonesian government to attract more investment, namely by providing clean and renewable energy,” said Toby.
Muhammad Ryfki Rahman, Manager of Monitoring Evaluation Sales Retail, PLN, agreed regarding the growing interest from customers, especially industry, in the provision of renewable energy. This can be seen from the increasing number of rooftop solar power plant customers and industrial customers are the customer group with the largest capacity.
“PLN always strives to increase its renewable energy mix, such as through the construction of the Cirata floating Solar PV which has a capacity of 192 MWp. In addition, to support the penetration of PLTS, PLN has conducted a groundbreaking (construction) of PHES with an estimated COD (operational-ed) in 2028,” he said.
Achmad Rizal Roesindrawan, Director Energia Prima Nusantara (EPN) observed that in terms of technology adoption, people tend to observe new technologies first. What developers need to do is ensure the maturity of the technology used.
“Interest in installing PLTS began to grow significantly after Covid19 when the ESG (environment, social, governance) principles began to be widely promoted. From the consumer side (industry-ed) many also finally saw that installing PV rooftop could increase their competitiveness,” said Achmad.
IESR Sustainable Energy Access Program Manager, Marlistya Citraningrum said that apart from the industrial sector, the islands in Indonesia also have the potential to meet their energy needs from renewable energy entirely. Comprehensive and thorough studies, as well as communication and collaboration between institutions and stakeholders are needed.
“IESR encourages many islands in Indonesia to use 100% renewable energy considering that Indonesia is an archipelagic country that makes it very possible to realize this,” said Citra.
Enda Ginting, Indonesia Country Manager of Gurin Energy emphasized the importance of achieving economic scale in the solar energy industry so that the products of the industry are affordable.
“Our challenges as developers include the streamlining process and dependence on the PLN auction process,” he said.
The 2024 Indonesia Solar Summit is organized by the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) in collaboration with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), and in partnership with RE100. The 2024 Indonesia Solar Summit (ISS) is themed “Building the Indonesian Solar Power Supply Chain to Accelerate the Energy Transition and Support the Green Industry”. ISS 2024 is part of the pre-event of the 2024 Indonesia Sustainability Forum.
