2021-2030 electricity infrastructure: Power from green energy boosted
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia - Infrastruktur Kelistrikan 2021—2030: Setrum Energi Hijau Dipacu
28 May 2021
By: Denis Riantiza Mellanova
Jakarta — The government and PT PLN (Persero) agree to provide a larger portion of new renewable energy power plants in the 2021 – 2030 electricity procurement plan (RUPTL).
In the RUPTL, the portion of new renewable energy power plants reaches 48% while fossil fuel power plants’ reaches 52%. This percentage is higher than the portion in the 2019 – 2028 RUPTL where the portion of new renewable energy power plants reached 30% while the remaining portion was dominated by fossil fuel power plants.
“We are preparing a greener RUPTL. The new renewable energy portion will be larger, so we can claim that the RUPTL that we are preparing is a green RUPTL or a greener RUPTL or a pro-environment [RUPTL],” Electricity Director General of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Rida Mulyana, said on Thursday (27/5).
To reach 23% new renewable energy mix in 2025, the government has decided to no longer receive proposals for new coal-fired power plants (PLTUs), except for ones that have entered the financial closing stage or have commenced construction, according to the direction of the President in a limited meeting on 11 May 2021.
Various strategies are prepared to achieve the new renewable energy target, including by prioritising the most affordable new renewable power plants. Solar power plants (PLTS) will be boosted as they tend to cost less, other strategies include boosting co-firing in PLTUs, PLTPs (Geothermal power plants), PLTAs (Hydropower plants) that are developed with a more realistic commercial operation date, and replacing diesel with new renewable power plants.
In the 2021 – 2030 RUPTL, power plant growth in the next 10 years is set to reach 40,967 megawatts (MW). From the amount, 34,528 MW has been discussed while 6,439 MW still needs further studies.
“The RUPTL is still on process and being discussed. There are many aspects that have been agreed on, but there are also some that still need direct instructions from the minister,” Rida said during a hearing meeting with House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VII.
Meanwhile, DPR Commission VII hopes that the RUPTL can be arranged carefully and be finished immediately as it is an important guideline in determining the policies for the national electricity infrastructure.
“However, until today, the 2021 – 2030 RUPTL has yet to be finished, while the government was supposed to ratify it at the end of last year,” DPR Commission VII Deputy Chairman, Eddy Soeparno, affirmed.
A similar critic was stated by Mulyanto, a member of DPR Commission VII from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) fraction as PLN was considered to be moving too slowly. However, his colleague, Ratna Juwita Sari from the National Awakening Party (PKB) fraction, appreciated the effort of the government and PLN in increasing the portion of new renewable energy power plants in the 2021 – 2030 RUPTL and reminded about the investment expenditure.
During the occasion, PT PLN (Persero) assumed that electricity consumption growth in the next 10 years would decrease by 4.87% due to the Covid-19 pandemic. PLN Vice President Director, Darmawan Prasodjo, said that the percentage was lower than the electricity consumption growth forecast in the 2019 – 2028 RUPTL that reached 6.42%.
Hence, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the national electricity consumption demand is forecasted to grow slowly in the next three years. This makes it difficult for PLN to achieve the 23% new renewable energy mix target in 2025. However, PLN is still committed to achieve the 23% new renewable energy mix in 2025.
He revealed that PLTUs were scheduled to be retired to be carbon neutral in 2060. There are 50.1 gigawatts (GW) of PLTUs that will be retired until 2055. “From 2025 to 2030, planning [new] PLTUs is forbidden.”
In 2030, around 1 GW from the first stage of subcritical PLTUs will be retired, including Muarakarang, Tambaklorok, and Gresik PLTUs. In the second stage, around 9 GW of PLTUs are scheduled to be retired in 2035.
Next, in 2040, around 10 GW of supercritical PLTUs are set to retire, followed by 24 GW from the first stage of supercritical PLTUs in 2045 and 5 GW from the last stage of ultra-supercritical PLTUs in 2055. “The zero-carbon scenario [is set to be achieved] in 2060,” Darmawan said.
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