Jakarta, 23 February 2022 – Through their respective authorities, local governments play an essential role in achieving national development targets related to renewable energy (RE) development to support the acceleration of the energy transition in Indonesia. In collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), the National Energy Council (DEN), the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) organized the Regional Energy Forum (FED) in accelerating the energy transition at the regional level.

Secretary-General of the National Energy Council (DEN), Djoko Siswanto; Member of the DEN, Musri Mawaleda; and the Director-General of New, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation, Dadan Kusdiana, as resource persons in this virtual activity. Also present were the Head of the ESDM Service and the Head of Provincial Bappeda throughout Indonesia, who conveyed the development of the use of Solar Power Plants (PLTS) in their area.

IESR Executive Director Fabby Tumiwa, in his remarks, said that the Regional Energy Forum is part of a series of road-to- Indonesia Solar Summit (ISS) 2022 activities. “This FED activity is motivated by the net-zero emission target. (NZE) in 2060 or sooner, because the potential for solar energy in Indonesia also reaches more than 3,400GW so that it can be the spearhead to achieve NZE 23% of EBT in 2025, “said Fabby.

In his presentation, Musri said that Indonesia has committed to climate change mitigation efforts through ratifying the Paris Agreement as stipulated in Law no. 16 of 2016 and further reaffirmed the commitment in the Glasgow Climate Pact, which aims to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius. This commitment has consequences, especially in the development direction of low-carbon development.

“The government has made several efforts to mitigate climate change in the energy sector, namely the fulfillment of the renewable energy mix target of 23% by 2025, the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 29% and 41% with international assistance, the NZE target in 2060 or more fast, and setting a target for adding new renewable energy plants (EBT) to 51.6% or around 20,923 MW as stated in the 2021-2030 Electric Power Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) document. Specifically for solar power plants (PLTS), the target for constructing additional power plants by 2030 in the RUPTL reaches 4,680 MW or 22% of the total NRE power generation capacity,” said Musri.

Musri said that the support and efforts of local governments, especially the ESDM Service and Bappeda, were needed in accelerating low-carbon development and realizing the targets stated in the RUED matrix or accordance with the capabilities and potential of the local area. He also emphasized that one of the easiest and cheapest power plants to build with and with great potential in Indonesia is solar power.

Secretary-General of the National Energy Council, Djoko Siswanto, said that until now, there are still 12 Provinces that are finalizing the Regional Regulation on the Regional Energy General Plan (Perda RUED), 5 of them are in the process of facilitating the registration number at the Ministry of Home Affairs, 3 Provinces have submitted the draft RUED Provinces in the Program Formation of Regional Regulations (Propemperda) in 2021 and 2022 have also discussed with the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD). Four new provinces will discuss with DPRD.

Furthermore, Djoko explained that several governors had issued Governor Regulations (Pergub) and Regional Regulations related to clean energy, electric vehicles, PLTS, and made solar panels mandatory, especially in housing, apartments, and buildings. Some of these provisions are used as the basis by governors to make regulations in their respective provinces.

Director-General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Dadan Kusdiana, said that solar energy development is part of achieving the target of 23% of the renewable energy mix by 25. He is optimistic that this target can be achieved considering Indonesia is very ready and complete planning. However, he said that in terms of management, things might be delayed, so a more significant portion of rooftop solar power plants is needed as a safety net so that the 23% target can be achieved.

“In the development plan has three main groups: rooftop solar power plants with a 2025 target of 3.61 GW. Then the two large-scale PLTS with a 2030 target of 4.68 GW and floating PLTS with a potential of 26.65 GW. Apart from the issue of PV mini-grid revitalization, it is not only rooftop PV mini-grid; in the regions, several technical problems are not minor in number for operations and maintenance. We will also think about the technical implementation for revitalizing renewable energy plants, especially PLTS,” added Dadan.

The ESDM Office from several regions was also present in the discussion. One of which was the Central Java ESDM Office, represented by the Head of New and Renewable Energy, Eni Lestari. According to Eni, increasing understanding of renewable energy at the grassroots level and encouragement from local governments can help accelerate the development of renewable energy.

“The Central Java provincial government will create an energy instructor at the regional level so that each village can have a guide to understand and adopt renewable energy. The regional secretary’s circular in 2021 that the business, industry, and government building sectors to contribute to the utilization of rooftop solar power plants already exists and can be carried out,” said Eni.

He also added that the financing scheme for PLTS in various sectors is still an obstacle. Therefore, the accelerated renewable energy in the regions cannot rely on the APBD alone but requires contributions from multiple sectors, including the private sector.

In line with Eni, Irfan Hasymi Kelrey from the ESDM Office of NTB said that local governments can encourage renewable energy development with regulations. Still, its implementation requires support and concrete steps from the community in various sectors, especially the private sector.

“Currently, we are drafting the Green Energy Governor’s Regulation related to utilizing all renewable energy, including its potential. We have also distributed a circular for hotels to install rooftop solar power plants in Kab. Sumbawa and Kab. Bima this year is in the process of 10MW. From some of these things, we are optimistic that the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) NZE target will be achieved faster than Indonesia,” said Irfan Hasymi Kelrey, NTB’s Energy and Mineral Resources Office, when sharing his regional plans and achievements.

Going a step further, the Bali Manpower Office for Energy and Mineral Resources, Ida Bagus Ngurah Arda, revealed that Bali was the first to have Pergub No. 45 of 2019 concerning Clean Energy and will issue a circular with a broader scope, not only in the BUMN or government sector which includes all sectors, involving the private sector, including individuals (rooftop PLTS). Ida also said that the construction of PLTS in various forms continues in Bali.

“Currently, there are several PLTS developments, namely 3.5 MWp in Nusa Penida and 400KWp on the Bali-Mandara toll road,” said Ida.

Meanwhile, Expert Policy Analysis as Coordinator for ESDM affairs, SUPD I, Directorate General of Development, Regional Development (Bangda), Ministry of Home Affairs (Kementerian Dalam Negeri or Kemendagri), Tavip Rubiyanto revealed the challenges faced in being able to synchronize central and regional programs as well as integrating the Regional Energy General Plan (RUED) into the Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Daerah or RPJMD).

“Local governments can use several instruments, for example, the governor’s instructions, to encourage the acceleration of ET. Regarding codification and budget nomenclature, issues related to NRE budgeting in the regions will refer to Minister of Home Affairs Regulation or Permendagri No. 50. And currently, Bangda is preparing to encourage local governments to integrate RUED into the RPJMD and ESDM Renstra documents to be operationalized in regional planning. So that the RPJMD 2023-2026 can be a way to insert several steps to achieve the ET target,” said Tavip.

The results of the Regional Energy Forum are a follow-up to the Governor’s Forum on Energy Transition (Governor’s Forum), which is one of the events leading up to the 2022 Indonesia Solar Summit. The Indonesia Solar Summit (ISS) is the culmination of a series of multi-stakeholder events to mobilize Indonesia’s solar energy investment potential and accelerate the use of PLTS to achieve the National Energy Policy’s targets (KEN) RUEN. ISS was organized to open up the market and support the development of the solar energy ecosystem in Indonesia and as an ingredient of the G20 presidency in Indonesia.