IETO 2023 arrives just as Indonesia embarks on its journey to transform its energy system. After President Jokowi pledged that Indonesia would reach net-zero emissions by 2060 or sooner, the energy policy began to shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy last year. The obvious shift occurs in the power sector, where PLN’s 10-year RUPTL (2021-2030) for the first time includes more renewable power plants than fossil fuels. The decline in electricity demand, which was exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, compelled PLN to drastically reduce its coal-fired power plants.

The NZE objective also accelerates the power sector’s emission peaks relative to the initial plan. A USD 20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), launched during the Indonesia G20 summit, stipulated that emissions from the power sector will peak by 2030 and be capped at 290 MtCO2e. Even though the JETP target is not aligned with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement, it is still a good measure that could allow the rapid deployment of renewable energy, the improvement of energy efficiency measures, and the initiation of the coal phase-down before 2030. There is still a great deal of work to be done to make the energy transition truly happen and be sustainable.