Solar Energy Can Be a Strategy to Achieve Renewable Energy Targets in Jambi

press release

Jambi, November 28, 2023 – Local governments play a significant role in promoting the use of renewable energy in their respective regions. This is crucial in achieving the national target for renewable energy mix. Jambi is one region that aims to achieve a renewable energy mix target of 24 percent by 2025 and 40 percent by 2050. The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), a leading think tank in Indonesia, underlines the importance of accelerating solar energy utilization in Jambi Province as a concrete step in achieving the regional renewable energy mix target and reducing greenhouse gas emissions contributing to the climate crisis.

Based on IESR’s study titled Beyond 443 GW: Indonesia’s Infinite Renewable Energy Potentials, Jambi has 281.5 GWp of solar energy potential. Meanwhile, based on the Regional Energy General Plan, Jambi has a solar potential of 8,847 MW. However, the installed capacity of solar power plants is only around 0.68 MW as of 2022.

 

Marlistya Citraningrum, Program Manager of Sustainable Energy Access, IESR, mentioned that solar energy is democratic energy available throughout Indonesia. In addition, solar energy technology is currently relatively easy to access, with increasingly affordable investment costs.

“We believe solar energy is a strategic solution to mitigate the climate crisis. Rooftop solar power plants offer several benefits, such as increasing the renewable energy mix and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the cooperation of various parties. They provide a renewable source of electrical energy without the need to build large-scale power plants. This opens up business opportunities in the green jobs sector and encourages increased competitiveness of the solar industry in energy. We hope that Indonesia will not only become a market for the solar energy industry but also spark a green and circular economy,” Marlistya said at the Jambi Government Forum, Implementation of Solar Energy in Jambi Province held on Tuesday (28/11).

Marlistya invited all stakeholders to proactively participate in accelerating solar energy utilization in Jambi Province. She emphasized five things that can be done to spur the adoption of solar power at the regional level.  Firstly, clear rules, regulations, and policies should be implemented effectively. Secondly, there should be encouragement for rules, policies, and appeals. Thirdly, good practices in solar energy utilization should be shared and multiplied. Fourthly, access to information on renewable energy, particularly solar energy, should be improved. Lastly, incentives and facilitation, along with increased financing opportunities, should be provided to support the adoption of solar energy.

Nanang Kristanto, Sub-Coordinator of RUEN Implementation Monitoring, National Energy Council, explained that Indonesia is currently updating Government Regulation No. 79/2014, which pertains to the National Energy Policy (KEN). The purpose of this update is to ensure that energy policies are in line with climate change policies. It is predicted that by 2030, the energy sector will be the second largest contributor to emissions, following the forestry sector.

“The KEN Draft Government Regulation (RPP) has undergone updates, which include the consideration of achieving Net Zero Emission (NZE) by 2060. The primary energy mix in 2060 is planned to comprise 70-72% renewable energy and 28-30% non-renewable energy. The supporting policies for this goal are explained in detail in each article, which has increased the total number of articles in the KEN RPP,” said Nanang. 

Nanang highlighted five important roles of regions in the energy transition towards NZE in the KEN changes. First, all activities related to the transition must be centered in provincial and district/city areas. Secondly, derivative activities for energy transition must be implemented according to the authority of the regions. Thirdly, the parts should receive funding from the central government or the private sector to aid in the transition. Fourthly, the areas must have available human resources to support the transition’s new technologies. Finally, it is important to socialize with the community as energy users to implement the transition effectively.

Anjas Bandarso, Energy Policy Analyst from the Directorate General of Regional Development of the Ministry of Home Affairs, explained the strengthening of provincial authority in utilizing renewable energy in the regions through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 11 of 2023 concerning Additional Concurrent Government Affairs in the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Sector in the New Renewable Energy Sub-Sector. The regulation also optimizes coordination between the central government and regional governments.

“We provide new authority for provincial governments to manage biomass or biogas, both as energy and as a substitute fuel for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Then, the management of various renewable energies as well as the implementation, guidance, and supervision of energy conservation,” said Anjas. 

Anjas hopes that there will be mutual support between the central and regional governments, strong political commitment, and real concern at the regional level to encourage the achievement of renewable energy targets.

Koran Jakarta | Indonesia Must Continue to Intensify the Development of Solar PV

The operation of  Cirata floating photovoltaic (PV) power plant, West Java, is a milestone in the acceleration of solar PV development to decarbonize electricity in Indonesia. Going forward, Indonesia must optimize the potential of solar PV to support the achievement of the electricity sector’s peak emission target in 2030, at the lowest cost.

Read more on Koran Jakarta.

Awaiting Regulatory Certainty for Solar Energy Adoption

Fabby Tumiwa dalam konferensi pers Smart Transportation and Energy di Indonesia pada Kamis (9/11/2023)

Jakarta, November 9, 2023 – Solar power has the potential to accelerate renewable energy in Indonesia’s primary energy mix. However, developing the country’s solar power plants has proved challenging. The Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), Fabby Tumiwa, explained that Indonesia has the highest potential in solar energy. An IESR study shows that solar power in Indonesia could reach a technical potential and land suitability of 3,000-20,000 GWp. Despite this potential, there are regulatory challenges to developing solar energy in the country, particularly regarding solar PV. In 2022, the realized installed capacity of solar PV was only 271.6 MW, which was far below the planned capacity of 893.3 MW, based on data from the Directorate General of EBTKE of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

“Solar PV utilization is currently limited to around 10-15% of its capacity, which makes the economics of solar PV low and unattractive. In 2021-2022, the growth of rooftop solar PV has stagnated. However, since the beginning of this year, there have been efforts to revise the regulations to prevent uncertainty. The revision process is long and has even been discussed at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham). Unfortunately, the process has not been completed yet and still requires further coordination between Ministries and Institutions,” said Fabby Tumiwa at Thursday’s Smart Transportation and Energy in Indonesia press conference (9/11/2023).

 

Fabby Tumiwa mentioned the uncertainty must be resolved immediately with strong leadership from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Additionally, on Thursday (9/11/2023), Indonesia unveiled the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant, which has a capacity of 192 MWp, making it the biggest floating solar power plant in Southeast Asia.

“The inauguration of the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant signifies the Indonesian Government’s commitment to developing solar energy. This project could not have been completed without the use of advanced technology and innovation from China, the world’s largest producer of solar energy technology. Considering Indonesia’s plan to increase the usage of renewable energy, we anticipate a significant demand for solar power plants in the coming years,” explained Fabby Tumiwa.

Realizing Energy Democratization through Solar Energy

Jakarta, 5 October 2023 – Energy is a basic human need not only to support daily activities but more importantly to increase productive activities. Solar energy is a renewable energy source that can realize energy democratization.

Solar energy fulfills several aspects for the democratization of energy such as the availability of resources throughout the year, and the flexibility of the scale of installation. For a nobler goal, by installing solar panels, users contribute to reducing emissions from the energy sector. These various reasons show that motivations for using solar PV can vary.

This is in line with the findings of a market survey conducted by the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), one of which explored respondents’ motivations for using solar PV. Marlistya Citraningrum, IESR Sustainable Energy Access Program Manager, in the Seminar ‘Solar Energy Policy and Action Plan as a Form of NRE Commitment towards Indonesia’, Thursday 5 October 2023, explained that motivations can vary from one region to another.

“MSMEs in Central Java choose rooftop PV because they are interested in the savings so that their electricity bill money can be allocated to other things. Meanwhile, business people in Bali have a high awareness of maintaining harmony with nature. “Apart from that, they will get positive branding as an environmentally friendly business entity,” said Marlistya.

To increase public interest in using solar energy, several things need to be done by stakeholders, including the government, in creating an ecosystem that supports the growth of renewable energy.

Three things that must be pursued to encourage participation by more parties are first, regulations that are clear and supportive and well communicated so that the public gets information about rooftop PV regulations easily and without confusion. Second, there are examples of users and easy access to service providers; third, provide incentives and increase access to financing.

In the same forum, Dedi Rustandi, Intermediate Expert Planner Coordinator for NRE at the Ministry of Bappenas stated that solar energy achievements were still below RUPTL target.

“There are a number of main causes, including the pandemic which has prevented electricity demand from growing significantly, there is uncertainty in the investment climate for the business, as well as delays in project procurement (related to governance),” said Dedi.

Dedi admitted that there are still a number of inefficient policies, resulting in the use of solar energy not being optimal in Indonesia.

New Hope in Menamang Kanan

Samarinda, 7 September 2023 – Menamang Kanan Village is located in Muara Kaman District, Kutai Kartanegara Regency. It takes around 4 hours to travel from the city of Samarinda via road to reach this village. Until 2022, the people of Menamang Kanan rely on diesel generators from a company’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) program to fulfill their access to electricity. Diesel will light up and be a source of lighting for residents for 4 hours every day.

The hope of having longer and better quality access to electricity is slowly starting to come to light in 2022. Through the East Kalimantan Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD), Menamang Kanan village received centralized solar PV installation of 87 kWp. Electricity from this PV is distributed to 600 families.

Even though we already have other energy sources, unfortunately the quality of electricity produced is only sufficient for lighting and basic electronics.

“Because we only produce 700 watts/day and it has to be used communally, so it can only be used for lights and fans at most, It can’t be used for TV or cooking rice, let alone the refrigerator,” explained Zapir, Menamang Kanan Village Secretary.

Zapir added that the people of Menamang Kanan hope to increase the electricity capacity they receive so that people can use electricity for other, more productive activities. Not limited to lighting.

The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) believes that the quality of electricity received by society needs to improve because if the electricity they receive is of low quality, society will not be able to carry out productive activities that can improve the economy. Decentralized power plants such as solar PV need to increase massively to supply electricity in rural areas.

Regional governments can utilize their authority in developing renewable energy as regulated in Presidential Decree Number 11 of 2023, in order to improve the quality of people’s access to electricity.

“This additional authority certainly needs to be followed by local government initiatives to design programs that also address the need to provide energy access, especially with local renewable energy. This principle of energy decentralization enables independent energy efforts with the involvement of many parties and is expected to improve community welfare with sustainable energy access,” explained Marlistya Citraningrum, Sustainable Energy Access Program Manager, Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) in the webinar “Energy Transition in Equity National Electrification”.

Decentralization of energy by utilizing renewable energy sources will open up opportunities for wider and participatory exploration of utilization so as to facilitate access to electricity and increase the reliability of its quality.

Driving Solar Energy Towards Achieving an Energy Mix of 23% in 2025

Jakarta, July 26, 2023 – Solar energy must be accelerated to achieve a renewable energy mix of 23% by 2025 and reach net zero emissions by 2060 or earlier. Unfortunately, renewable energy had only made up approximately 12.3% of the national energy mix by 2022.

Director of Various New Energy and Renewable Energy, Directorate General of EBTKE, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Andriah Feby Misna explained various programs are continuously being encouraged to utilize solar energy. Whether through a large-scale solar power plant (solar PV) program, floating solar PV, or rooftop solar PV. From a regulatory standpoint, said Feby, the revision to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No. 26 of 2021 concerning Rooftop Solar PV Connected to the Electric Power Network Holders of Business Licenses to Provide Electricity for Public Interest (IUPTLU) has been harmonized by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

“We have harmonized the revised ESDM Regulation 26/2021 with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Hopefully, it can be enacted shortly. Some of the content that has been changed in the revision of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources 26/2021 includes the provisions on the capacity that may be installed; in this revision, we do not limit the capacity they can install but must follow the existing quota. So as long as the quota exists, regardless of capacity demand, it must be met according to the existing quota,” said Feby in a panel discussion entitled “Solar regulations, implementation, plans” at the Indonesia Solar Summit event organized by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources together with IESR.

In addition, Feby mentioned, the revision of the ESDM Permen also regulates changes related to exports and imports. Considering that currently, PLN is experiencing a surplus and PLN’s limitations in being able to accept intermittent generators, for this reason, there is no change to this Ministerial Regulation for exports. It remains connected to PLN, but when there are exports, this does not count as a reduction in consumer bills.

“With no export-import recognition in the revised ESDM Permen 26/2021, it is not interesting, but at least the current regulation opens an opportunity for the industry to be interested in installing rooftop PLTS because this is indeed market demand. In the future, the revision of this Ministerial Regulation will be reviewed again and can open up exports and imports again,” said Feby.

Member of the National Energy Council, Herman Darnel Ibrahim, criticized the contents of the revised ESDM Ministerial Regulation 26/2021 which removed the rules for exporting electricity to PLN. According to Herman, this shows Indonesia’s step towards the world where it will not develop a rooftop PLTS, even though the potential is enormous and there is no land lease.

“The projection is that solar energy will be the main one in the electricity sector. Solar energy figures (in the latest national energy policy (KEN)-red) are projected in 2060 to be around 500-600 GW. In the old national energy policy (KEN) in 2050 (solar energy-ed) 120 GW, but the realization is not fast enough,” said Herman.

Norman Ginting, Director of Projects and Operations of Pertamina New & Renewable Energy (Pertamina NRE) explained his party is committed to supporting the government to achieve the net zero emission (NZE) target in 2060 or sooner. One of these efforts is to start building a portfolio in solar energy, including solar cell technology.

“We have completed more than 50 megawatts of PLTS, one of which is the largest internal Pertamina Hulu Rokan with a total planned installed capacity of 25 megawatts. In addition, Pertamina has a great interest in how to run and implement green hydrogen from solar power because we see that green hydrogen is easier in the shifting process,” said Norman.

Furthermore, Norman highlighted that society and industry have been waiting for electricity based on renewable energy. Opportunities for developing solar PV are extensive, both on-grid and off-grid. For this reason, his party needs even more massive support in developing solar energy in Indonesia.

Ashwin Balasubramanian, Associate Partner of McKinsey stated that solar energy’s technical potential is significant, more than 3000 GW. The projection is that more than 400 GW will need to be built in 30-40 years. This is also a great investment opportunity and contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP) by opening up new jobs.

“If we look at Vietnam and Thailand, they have developed 10-15 times. India developed more than 16 GW. It shows it is possible with the right conditions and aspirations,” said Ashwin.