Country for PR: Indonesia
Contributor: Antara News Agency
Wednesday, October 26 2022 - 09:30
AsiaNet
The Indonesia Ministry of SOEs Supports PLN's Breakthrough to Accelerate the Clean Energy Transition in Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia, October 26, 2022, Antara News Agency

PT PLN (Persero) today reaffirmed its committed to support the Indonesian 
government's program to achieve the Net Zero Emission target by 2060 through 
various strategies, such as the development of new and renewable energy 
(RE)-based power plants, dieselization programs, and the retirement of steam 
power plants (PLTU).

Vice Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Pahala N. Mansury outlined how 
the Ministry strongly supports the efforts of PLN in achieving net zero 
emissions by 2060 and supports low-carbon development based on the Paris 
Agreement goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the National 
Determined Contribution (NDC) of up to 29 percent, as it is stated at the COP26 
2021 meeting.

"PLN is committed to decarbonization, such as accelerating the stopping of the 
use of Coal Fired Power Plant (CFPP) assets, and new renewable energy programs 
by developing eco-friendly power plants to increase the level of NRE in the 
energy mix," explained Pahala.

The President Director of PLN Darmawan Prasodjo welcomes the government's 
support to make the energy transition successful, especially to follow the NZE 
2060 target. Since 2021, PLN has prepared a roadmap which was presented at the 
COP26 Summit in Glasgow. This means, continued Darmawan, PLN is ready to lead 
the energy transition in Indonesia.

Darmawan said in the scenario of business as usual (BAU), Indonesia's carbon 
emissions are projected to reach more than 4 billion tons of CO2e/year by 2060. 
There are 2 sectors with a large contribution to Indonesia's carbon emissions, 
namely the electricity sector and the transportation sector.

"Without significant efforts, by 2060 the electricity sector will produce CO2e 
emissions of 920 million tons per year, but the intervention by PLN will 
prepare Indonesia to be cleaner for future generations," he said.

To support this plan, PLN has prepared a roadmap for the retirement of steam 
power plants (PLTU) to achieve Net Zero Emission by 2060. The steps of retiring 
the coal-fired power plant of 50.1 gigawatts (GW) until 2056 will be carried 
out gradually, replacing them with RE power plants.

Darmawan stated that the replacement of PLTU and PLTMG with PLT RE Baseload of 
1.1 GW will be carried out in 2025. And in 2030, the first phase of PLTU 
subcritical retirement of 1 GW will be carried out. Then in 2035, the PLTU 
subcritical phase 2 will retire at 9 GW. Then in 2040, PLN will operate a 
supercritical PLTU with a CCUS of 10 GW.

In 2045, the Ultra Super Critical PLTU will be operated by the use of CCUS 
(carbon capture storage) technology of 24 GW. Furthermore, in 2055, the Ultra 
Supercritical PLTU with the last CCUS of 5 GW will be operated.

Besides reducing the number of PLTUs, PLN is also conducting a de-dieselization 
program of 5,200 PLTDs in Indonesia. PLN replaces it with an RE generator based 
on local natural potential. Currently, the PLTD owned by PLN which will be 
converted to an RE power plant is around 499 MW. It will be carried out in two 
steps, namely Phase I in 183 locations with a capacity of 212 MW with a hybrid 
scheme (PLTS+Baterai+PLTD existing). As a second phase, the conversion of PLTD 
with a capacity of 287 MW to other RE power plants will be carried out, 
considering local RE sources. 

"This is a big change as it converts import-based energy into cheaper 
domestic-based energy," he said.

Instead, PLN will also develop an NRE-based power plant of 20.9 GW by 2030. The 
addition of NRE capacity is a combination of several NRE sources with a 
composition of 10.3 GW of hydro power (PLTA), and 10.3 GW of solar power 
(PLTS). 4.7 GW, geothermal power plants (PLTP) of 3.3 GW, and other RE PLTs of 
2.5 GW.

PLN also innovates on the biomass co-firing program in PLTU, through the 
substitution of coal with biomass partially to increase the NRE mix and 
reducing carbon emissions. "This is a social-based energy ecosystem because the 
supply of biomass will be run in collaboration of all social elements," he 
said. The trial implementation of the co-firing program at PLN's PLTU starting 
in 2020 has been successfully carried out at 47 PLTU locations.

Darmawan added that PLN cannot achieve NZE in 2060 alone, it needs 
collaboration with various institutions and also political support from the 
government. "It takes a very large amount of capital to reach Net Zero Emission 
2060 at least USD 500 billion. Therefore, we need to be supported on access to 
low-cost green financing, development grants and G to G pattern support,” said 
Darmawan.

To do so, the Ministry of SOEs is not only encouraging PLN to support the NZE 
effort, but also all SOEs must contribute to the initiative. 

“We have to encourage renewable energy; each state-owned company cannot work 
separately, but must collaborate to ensure that the 2060 NZE occurs. The energy 
transition must be carried out based on the transformation desired by 
Indonesia,” said Erick Thohir, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), 
during the SOE International Conference in Bali (17/10).