Indonesian Government's plan to carry out early retirement of Coal-Fired Power Plants

Several media wrote about the Indonesian Government's plan to carry out early retirement of Coal-Fired Power Plants (CFPPs), but to turn off these coal plants it must be done in stages. Deon Arinaldo, Energy Transformation Program Manager from the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) said that Indonesia cannot suddenly retire CFPPs just based on energy transition. According to him, all groups must look at a holistic solution in retiring CFPPs. Prioritizing benefits in this solution must be considered so that the energy supply of the electricity system is maintained. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said that to encourage the coal-fired power plant's early retirement program plan, his party is currently preparing incentives for its operators. However, he did not specify how the incentive scheme would be implemented. Refer to the analysis from the study of TransitionZero institute, it is revealed that the need for funds to retire CFPPs in Indonesia is quite large. Indonesia needs at least US$37 billion or the equivalent of Rp. 569 trillion (rupiah exchange rate Rp. 15,396 per US dollar) to stop its 118 coal power plants early.

 

CNBCIndonesia.com wrote about the government of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) who is preparing to launch a new breakthrough. This is related to increasing clean energy capacity in Indonesia. The increasing role of new renewable energy will replace coal-fired power plants (CFPPs). Currently the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MoEMR) and also PT PLN (Persero) are working on changes to the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL). The new RUPTL changes will increase the portion of generation from new and renewable energy (EBT) by 75%.