Government ensures economic growth amid energy transition: Ministry

Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) ensures that the national economy will continue to grow during the energy transition from fossil fuels to new and renewable energy.

The ministry’s Director-General of New, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation Dadan Kusdiana said his side will ensure that the energy transition processes did not have a socio-economic impact.

“The community’s energy supply would remain guaranteed. People would still be able to buy electricity and fuel according to their abilities. At the same time, we continue to reduce greenhouse gases, especially in the energy sector,” Kusdiana noted during an online dialogue regarding energy transition to realize green economic development on Friday.

During the energy transition period, Indonesia will utilize the various available resources gradually and accelerate the process involving various stakeholders, he affirmed.

According to Kusdiana, the government was not keen to witness a sudden acceleration of the transition by utilizing renewable energy. The government assumed it would create problems in terms of electricity supply, akin to several cases in European countries recently.

The Indonesian government will bring up the issue of energy transition during the G20 presidency since the forum is able to voice energy management at the world level.

Kusdiana further expressed hope that the idea regarding energy transition aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions would be heard by all participants during Indonesia’s G20 presidency.

“Hopefully, this idea would be heard by all. President Joko Widodo will propose the initiation for energy transition as one of the topics that will be discussed specifically at the Energy Sustainability Working Group (ETWG) G20,” he stated.

In the energy transition roadmap, the government is committed to achieving a 23-percent share of the new and renewable energy in the energy mix by 2025. By the end of 2021, the share of new and renewable energy in the energy mix had reached around 11.7 percent.

After 2030, additional power generation will only be coming from new and renewable energy. Starting in 2035, electricity will be generated largely by using variable renewable energy resources, such as solar power, followed by power generation from wind and ocean currents in the following year.

Hydrogen will also be used gradually starting in 2031 and massively in 2051. Thereafter, nuclear power will be included in the generation system starting in 2049, he noted.

In an effort to achieve the new and renewable energy mix target, the ministry has passed regulations related to rooftop solar power plants. The government has targeted to install rooftop solar panels of an additional 3.6-gigawatt capacity by 2025, Kusdiana stated.

Source: Antara News