Indonesia's Prabowo plans to retire all fossil fuel plants in 15 years, but experts are skeptical

[November 22, 2024]  By VICTORIA MILKO

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has announced that his government plans to retire all coal and other fossil fuel-power plants while drastically boosting the country's renewable energy capacity in the next 15 years.

“Indonesia is rich in geothermal resources, and we plan to phase out coal-fired and all fossil-fueled power plants within the next 15 years. Our plan includes building over 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity during this time,” Subianto said at the summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Brazil on Tuesday.

Subianto also said he was “optimistic” Indonesia would achieve net zero emissions by 2050, a decade sooner than the country's previous 2060 commitment.

Experts and environmental activists welcomed the announcements but hedged their expectations.

Indonesia is one of the world's largest producers and consumers of heavily polluting coal and most of its energy comes from fossil fuels. Over 250 coal-fired power plants are currently powering the country and more are being built, including at new industrial parks where globally-important materials like nickel, cobalt and aluminum are being processed.

In 2022, Indonesia’s energy sector emitted over 650 million tons of carbon dioxide, the world’s seventh highest level, according to the International Energy Agency. Population and economic growth are expected to triple the country’s energy consumption by 2050.

Experts said that real changes need to be implemented on the ground in Indonesia quickly if the president is serious about his plans.

“If the government is serious about speeding up the energy transition, efforts to shut down coal-fired power plants and prevent new permits for the construction of coal-fired power plants must be clear so that partners, investors and financial institution can see the pipeline and progress,” Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the Indonesia-based Center of Economic and Law Studies, said in written statement to The Associated Press.

Barges are fully loaded with coal on the Mahakam River in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Dec. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

While Subianto's predecessor, Joko Widodo, was in office Indonesia pledged to phase out — or at least drastically reduce — the use of coal by agreeing to numerous schemes with international stakeholders.

That included the largest $20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership deal so far. The deal has struggled to make changes on the ground but is still underway. JETP deals still fall short of the estimated trillions of dollars that are needed to develop infrastructure needed to transition to renewable energy and put existing coal-fired power plants into early retirement.

In Brazil, Prabowo also spoke about Indonesia's vast renewable energy potential from solar, hydropower, geothermal, wind and other sources. Only 14.5% of these renewable sources are currently tapped, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Current installed capacity of renewable energy in Indonesia is about 13 gigawatts, or less than 15% of total generation capacity.

“We are committed to renewable and green energy. We are blessed with many resources,” he said. “We have other renewable energy sources, and that is why we are very optimistic that we can achieve (net) zero before 2050."

A spokesperson from Indonesia's state electric utility, Perusahaan Listrik Negara, said the corporation is “fully committed” to supporting the renewable energy target but admitted the transition will bring challenges.

“There is a mismatch between the locations of large-scale renewable energy resources, such as hydro and geothermal, and the epicenters of our industry,” PLN spokesperson Gregorius Adi Trianto said in written statement to AP. “We also face the challenge of intermittency in solar and wind power. So we are developing a green smart grid to increase wind and solar capacity almost eightfold ... by 2040 to enhance our energy security.”

Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources was not immediately available for comment.

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