Jakarta, 20 September 2021– Indonesia’s commitment, incompatible with the Paris Agreement by not increasing the mitigation target in the updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and only targeting carbon neutrality by 2060 in the Long Term Strategy for Low Carbon and Climate Resilience (LTS-LCCR) document, is predicted to harm the environment and the Indonesian economy in the future. Indonesia is among the top 20 countries that are severely affected by the impacts of climate change in the form of extreme weather. Moreover, the global trade trends are embedding forward the green aspect of their manufactured products. Therefore, the Indonesian industry must compete harder with other countries in the world that have already developed renewable energy technologies and various policies to reduce carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest.
The energy transition is the right step to overcome the earth temperature’s rise and keep Indonesia competitive in global trading, however, it needs clear and appropriate socio-political support to oversee the energy transition process. It was expressed by Prof. Dr. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Indonesia Clean Energy Forum (ICEF), at the opening of the annual Indonesia Energy Transition Dialogue (IETD) 2021 organized by ICEF and the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR).
“For developing countries like Indonesia, the phase-out of fossil fuel energy development is crucial otherwise it will be too late and too expensive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution,” he said.
He said that the Indonesian government still has significant homework to do, such as immediately regulate an integrated national energy plan, mitigate the impact of the energy transition on the fossil fuel industry, use low-carbon technology in the transportation industry, and consider the just energy transition.
Fabby Tumiwa, IESR Executive Director on the same event emphasized that based on the IESR’s study, Deep Decarbonization of Indonesia’s Energy System stated that Indonesia can achieve the target of the Paris Agreement carbon neutral by 2050. He added that this decade is vital because Indonesia must soon reach the peak of emissions in the energy sector by 2030 and boost the renewable energy mix in the electricity sector to reach 45%.
“It implies that the development and investment of renewable energy must be increased 7 to 8 times from the current status, including energy efficiency on the demand side, and start phasing out the thermal power generation to accommodate large-scale renewable energy, and modernizing our grid,” explained Fabby.
At the IETD 2021, Suharso Monoarfa, Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas in his remarks at the IETD 2021, said that the Indonesian government realized that the energy transition process needed to be carried out to reduce carbon emissions. He revealed that several steps are to be taken to decarbonize Indonesia’s energy system to accelerate the energy transition to renewable energy and develop new renewable energy.
“Another strategy is the energy efficiency program by considering the alignment between resource management, financial policy variables, and the role of all sectors,” he continued.
Still projecting carbon neutrality in 2060, Arifin Tasrif, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources added that based on the scenario prepared by the government, the electricity demand in 2060 will be 1885 TWh. To meet electricity demand and achieve net-zero emissions, several policy steps have been taken including phasing out coal power plants, massive new renewable energy development, development of Indonesia’s super grid interconnection, and implementation of energy conservation.
“All of these electricity needs will be fully supplied by new renewable energy power plants in 2060. Massive addition of variable capacity of renewable energy such as solar and wind will be carried out starting in 2031. Meanwhile, the utilization of geothermal and hydro energy will also be optimized to be able to maintain a balanced system,” said Arifin Tasrif.
Affirming Arifin Tasrif’s statement, Dadan Kusdiana, Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that one of the challenges to realizing zero emissions in Indonesia by 2060 is to mobilize all sectors, not only the energy sector.
“Currently, in the electricity sector, the technology has already improved, while in the non-electricity sector, it still requires a more specialized study. The development of renewable energy has now begun, such as geothermal projects,” he explained.
IETD 2021 is held for five days, from 20-24 September in collaboration with Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia (CASE), a partnership project from several countries in Southeast Asia and funded by the Federal Government of Germany. Further information can be accessed at ietd.info.
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