JakartaPost-Dec 5
The government will continue to “prioritize domestic interests” as long as energy transition technology remains expensive and the Indonesian economy is not yet strong, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said in a speech at the Indonesia Mining Summit. “We agree with the global [net-zero emissions goal], but we need to assess our [capabilities]; our baseline is different from developed countries’ baseline,” he said. Similar statements had been made by high-ranking officials under former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s leadership, but they stand at odds with President Prabowo Subianto’s confidence about reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, a decade earlier than previously targeted. The President also told a Group of 20 forum in Brazil on Nov. 19 that the country planned to retire all coal and other fossil-fuel-fired power plants in the next 15 years, versus an earlier target of 2056, and to build an additional 75 gigawatts of renewable power generating capacity within the same timeframe. Speaking before House of Representatives Commission VI, which oversees energy policies, PLN CEO Darmawan Prasodjo said retiring the fossil-fuel burning plants could result in significant expenses, including the cost of building alternative renewable energy power sources with the same capacity and reliability as the retired facilities. According to PLN calculations, retiring a single plant requires between Rp 30 trillion and Rp 50 trillion (US$1.9 billion to $3.1 billion). Darmawan added that Indonesia’s carbon emissions amounted to only around 3 tons per capita annually, far less than countries like Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United States or even Singapore, which produced 20 tons, 17 tons, 14 tons and 11 tons, respectively. Read more at:
