JAKARTA. The Indonesian government is pushing forward its target of 19 percent new and renewable energy use by 2019 to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil-based energy sources, a minister has said.

“Currently, the use of new and renewable energy stands within a range of between 5 percent and 6 percent. The government will increase the proportion to 19 percent by 2019,” Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday.

To that end, he said, the government needed to speed up the use of new and renewable energy sources by, among other methods, increasing budgetary allocations for the sector next year.

The minister added that the government would also create so-called energy forests and energy gardens and accelerate the installment of gas installations in cities.

“We will also initiate a policy under which government office buildings in a number of cities will be equipped with solar panels,” said Sudirman.

The government would also map out areas with geothermal potential so that explorations and investment in the geothermal energy sector could be furthered, he said.

The government has set the 2525 target, under which it is expected that the use of new and renewable energy will reach 25 percent of Indonesia’s total energy use by 2025.

“We should not think pragmatically anymore. We should not think only for the short term. New and renewable energy sources are very important to maintain our energy sustainability so that we do not depend solely on fossil-based energy sources,” said Sudirman, adding that the government was also pushing forward its target of 10 percent energy conservation by 2019.

The government is targeting investment value in the energy sector to reach Rp 4 quadrillion (US$304 billion) over the next five years. This comprises Rp 1.2 quadrillion in investment in the upstream oil and gas sector, followed by investment in the electricity sector (Rp 1.1. quadrillion), downstream oil and gas sector (Rp 600 trillion), mineral resource sector (Rp 600 trillion) and new and renewable energy sector (Rp 500 trillion). (ebf)

Editor: Uji Agung Santosa