Indonesia aims to boost the buildout of renewable energy in its latest national power plan, scaling back gas additions to the grid.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy will look to add roughly 60 gigawatts of power generation capacity over the next nine years, according to a presentation prepared by the energy ministry. About three quarters of that will be from renewable sources, with the rest supplied by gas and coal.
Indonesia currently relies on a vast fleet of coal plants to meet its power needs, making it the region’s biggest source of carbon emissions. The country has lagged some of its neighbours in rolling out renewables, which currently make up 12% of its energy mix and are targeted to rise to 35% by 2035.
Solar energy will be the single biggest source of additions at 17 gigawatts, followed by 12 gigawatts of hydro power, according to the presentation. Around 10 gigawatts of natural gas capacity will be added, down from 15 gigawatts touted earlier this year.
The document made no mention of early retirement of existing coal plants, and said Indonesia envisages adding 6 gigawatts of coal power to the grid over the next nine years.
The country was one of the earliest participants in the Just Energy Transition Partnership — an international plan to accelerate its shift to renewable energy — but it has made scant progress since it was signed in 2022. Early retirement of coal plants is a key part of the JETP program.
See also: Keppel explores options to expand District Cooling System plant to provide for hospitals in Jurong
The updated national power plan will require 2,967 trillion rupiah ($235 billion), including investment in grid expansion. The majority of that is expected to come from independent power producers, with the state electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara supplying the rest.
Indonesia will also build 10 gigawatts of energy storage capacity, some of which is pumped hydro.
