Director General Invites Universities to Develop Renewables
MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
PRESS RELEASE
NUMBER: 138.Pers/04/SJI/2021
Date: 22 April 2021
Director General Invites Universities to Develop Renewables
Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR), Dadan Kusdiana, stated that the use of new and renewable energy will open up opportunities for Indonesia, especially in creating energy security and economic independence. For this reason, the Ministry of EMR invites universities to speed up innovation and research on the development of renewables in the future.
"Renewables are an important part of the development of the energy sector in Indonesia because renewable energy can create resilience and independence in our economy," said Dadan at the opening of Indonesia-Korea Renewable Energy Investment Forum held virtually in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/4).
Dadan went on to explain how renewables could save the energy sector in the global fossil energy production that proves to be vulnerable. For example, the Indonesian government has been forced to import oil fuels and Liqueified Petroleum Gas (LPG).
"We (Indonesia) have a lot of potential (renewables), from solar energy, wind, bioenergy to geothermal and water. We are very open if South Korea is interested in investing in hydro and solar sectors, two of our priorities in meeting the renewable targets in the next five years," said Dadan.
Indonesia has set a 28% target for renewables share by 2030. The figure has considered the contribution of the energy sector to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to international agreements. In 2020, the energy sector reduced CO2 emissions by 64.4 million metric tons or 111 percent of the 58 million ton target. "Our target is to increase the contribution to 314 MT of CO2e," said Dadan.
To meet this target, one of the strategies of the Indonesian government is to partner with the South Korean government under Business to Business (B2B) partnership concept. "We have seen the progress of this (cooperation) in batteries and electric vehicles. Of course, we don't limit the opportunity if South Korea is interested in investing in other energy subsectors, such as coal, DME, transmission and distribution, and smart grids," explained Dadan.
Dadan also said that Indonesia is determined to add installed capacity by 38 megawatts (MW) from renewables by 2035. To reach this goal, the strategies include replacing primary final energy, converting fossil energy, and utilizing non-biofuels.
Other strategies pursued by the Ministry of EMR include preparing a regulation on renewable energy tariffs and developing renewable technologies. "There has been a lot of cooperation with universities on renewable technology development. I invite universities to work together in the renewable sector, especially in energy efficiency. We're very much open to cooperation," Dadan concluded. (IY)
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