In the efforts to fulfill Indonesia’s commitment to achieve Net Zero Emission (NZE) by 2060. Indonesia has set a target of 23% Renewable Energy (RE) in its energy mix by 2025 and committed to an emission reduction target of around 31.89% unconditionally and 43.2% conditionally by 2030. Based on the data from the Ministry of Forestry and Environmental (KLHK) the energy sector contributed 595.86 million tons of CO2 in 2021. Therefore, Indonesia has committed to achieving these targets through many efforts, such as renewable energy development, energy efficiency implementation, energy conservation, and clean energy technology implementation. Moreover, we agree that the energy transition is a process toward clean and sustainable energy that should be done by Indonesia to limit carbon emissions. Accelerating the energy transition to achieve these targets requires the active participation and collaboration of various stakeholders, each playing different roles in advancing the transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon energy system. The required collaboration is related to regulation and permits, investment and financing, technologies, and national and international partnerships as well.
On the regulation and permit side, the government as a regulator creates and implements policies that promote renewable energy adoption and energy transformation, providing financial incentives and subsidies to encourage investment in clean technologies. According to DG Electricity, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in the period 2021 to 2025 the Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, has prepared a draft law on Renewable Energy, established the Presidential Decree on Acceleration of Renewable Energy Development for Electricity Supply, implemented early retirement of coal-fired power plants (CFPP), expanded co-firing at CFPP, and converted diesel power plants to gas power plants and RE power plants such as hydro, solar, wind, and others.
On the investment and financing side, collaboration between the government and the private sector is increasingly focused on investing in renewable energy sources and developing innovative technologies to supply clean energy. Quote from Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani mentioned that “transition financing plays an important role in providing support for the energy transition towards decarbonization. There is no transition without funding, and there is no financing without collaboration between the government and the private sector.” The government develops the energy financing scheme and provides the incentives, and the private sector develops the transition strategies and plans to shift their business models toward low-carbon alternatives. After the G20 Bali in 2022, Indonesia needs to optimize the role of banks in distributing financing to accelerate the economic transition through a low-carbon economy so banks can aggressively finance green projects or sustainable development, then facilitate carbon trading and carbon taxing to accelerate the energy transition. This is in line with the statement of the Coordinating Minister for Economics Affairs.
On the academic side, through the implementation of “tridharma” universities, namely education and teaching, research and development, and community services, the roles of academics are to build a sustainable energy transformation by producing quality human resources and a sustainable society. According to the Ministry of Education, there are many universities that include renewable energy in their study programs. Currently, there are 16 universities collaborating with the State Electricity Company (PLN), which was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the provision of education, the conduct of research, community service, downstream innovation, and demonstrator technology, as well as the empowerment of human resources (HR). Furthermore, University of Indonesia mentioned that University of Indonesia (UI) mentioned that it is a pioneer and center of excellence in the fields of education and research applied to campus and community life in accordance with developments in industrial technology, including the energy transition agenda.
In implementing the energy transition, Indonesia needs more scientific discussions as a place for sharing and getting insight from all stakeholders, as well as promoting the energy transition to the public. Through Indonesia Sustainable Energy Week (ISEW) 2023, with the topic is “United Towards a Decarbonized Energy System ”, we would like to meet all the stakeholders from the government side, industry players, financing side, international partners, etc with different topics per session. The topic is on Day 1:The theme is a Collaborative Approach for Indonesia’s Energy Transition; on Day 2: Decarbonizing the Energy Sector, on Day 3: Highlighting the importance of renewable energy deployment for enhanced productivity. The roles of stakeholders in accelerating the energy transition are interconnected, and their collective efforts are essential for achieving the goal of sustainable, low-carbon emissions and an energy transition.
