Jakarta, March 18, 2025 – Decarbonization of the energy system needs to be carried out quickly and comprehensively. The use of technology that has proven its effectiveness and economic scale is important. In addition, development and innovation for new, more mature and efficient technologies need to be carried out continuously. Hydrogen is one example of a technology that continues to be developed and is projected to play a role in replacing fossil fuels in sectors that are categorized as hard to abate sectors (difficult to reduce emissions) due to their high energy intensity requirements.
Fabby Tumiwa, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) during the Road to GHES 2025 webinar – Utilization of Green Hydrogen as a Decarbonization Effort in Indonesia organized by IESR in collaboration with the British Embassy in Jakarta through the Green Energy Transition Indonesia (GETI) project, stated that hydrogen will play an important role in the decarbonization process, but it should be noted that not all types of hydrogen have the same impact on reducing emissions.
“I believe green hydrogen is most in line with the net zero emission roadmap so as to get the maximum impact of reducing emissions,” said Fabby.
Fabby added that there are global efforts to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production including the development of increasingly mature green hydrogen technology, increasing green hydrogen investment in the last five years. In addition, hydrogen projects also provide economic benefits ranging from job creation to economic benefits from the green hydrogen project itself.
Andriah Feby Misna, Director of Various New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources explained that Indonesia has prepared a National Hydrogen and Ammonia Roadmap (RHAN) which will be a guideline for the development and utilization of hydrogen as Indonesia’s decarbonization strategy.
“Currently until 2034 we are in the initiation phase. We focus on preparations such as formulating strategies, roadmaps, and also conducting feasibility studies for various aspects, such as production, storage, transportation, and utilization of hydrogen and ammonia. In addition, we are preparing regulations related to hydrogen,” said Feby.
Farid Wijaya, Senior Analyst of Materials and Renewable Energy at IESR, stated that in the next 10 years the hydrogen ecosystem will develop from utilization to production considering that hydrogen is a source of raw materials that consistently stores energy and its energy source.
“The existence of international agreements to reduce emissions such as the Paris Agreement and CBAM is one of the driving factors of the hydrogen ecosystem. In the domestic context (Indonesia), there are priority industrial and economic areas with high energy consumption needs but must reduce emissions from the products produced,” explained Farid.
Deni Shidqi Khaerudini, Deputy II, Indonesia Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy (IFHE), stated that hydrogen will be a game changer in decarbonization.
“Indonesia already has a target for hydrogen use such as IKN which targets 20% of its energy from hydrogen by 2038. For now, several places have started to develop hydrogen such as Samator but are still based on gray hydrogen,” he said.
Wangi Pandan Sari, Industrial Engineering Expert, Center for Energy Studies (PSE), Gajah Mada University, said that although hydrogen is considered a clean energy solution, its entire production chain must be ensured to be free from carbon emissions.
“With the increasing demand for hydrogen, we can see that this sector plays an important role in global decarbonization efforts, especially in sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as heavy industry. This provides a great opportunity for Indonesia which has a lot of potential renewable energy resources, although its utilization is still limited. If we can utilize this potential, Indonesia can become a major player in hydrogen production, both for domestic needs and for export,” she said.
