Indonesia State Utility Plans 31.6 GW Renewable Power Capacity in 2024-2033

KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Indonesia's state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to build an additional 31.6 gigawatts of renewable power capacity between 2024 and 2033, Chief Executive Darmawan Prasodjo told parliament on Wednesday.

The extra renewable capacity would represent 75% of the additional generation for the period, while the remaining capacity is expected to come from gas power plants, Darmawan said, citing a draft plan for supplying power.

In the 2021-2030 plan, PLN had proposed building 20.9 GW renewable capacity and nearly 20 GW of gas and coal power capacity. Out of the total additional capacity planned for 2021-2030, 8.6 GW has been built as of September.

The new plan is aimed at accelerating adoption of cleaner energy as Indonesia aims to reach net-zero emissions before 2060.

The company will also build transmissions to connect hydropower and other renewable energy sources to Java where demand for power is high and Sulawesi where consumption is expected to surge in the future.

However, the proposed power supply plan does not assume an accelerated shut down of coal-fired power plants. Indonesia is a major producer and exporter of coal which powers around half of the country's electricity grid now.

"We had agreed that this will not be coal phase-out, but coal phase-down," Darmawan told parliament, adding that most of the coal power plants will remain operational until the end of its contract. PLN will implement carbon capture and storage technology once it becomes available, he said.

Indonesia had sought financing from global lenders to shut down coal power plants early to reduce emission, but banks are worried that environmental groups will view such loans as financing for coal projects. The banks had already pledged to stop extending finance for any new coal projects.

Under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) scheme, where rich nations and global lenders pledged $20 billion funding to clean up its power sector, two power plants with a combined capacity of 1.7 GW are slotted to be shut down by 2040.