Renewable Energy Contributes 217 MW to Indonesia’s Electricity Supply – EQ Mag Pro

Jakarta (ANTARA) : The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources recorded an increase in electricity production from renewable resources to reach 217 megawatts in the first semester of 2021.

“This is a good achievement indeed, but we need to work harder to achieve our next target of securing 23 percent of the primary energy from renewable sources by 2025,” Ministry’s Director General for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Dadan Kusdiana noted in his statement quoted in Jakarta, Friday.

Kusdiana elaborated that the 217 megawatts of electricity harvested until July 2021 had been sourced from the Malea hydroelectric power station that contributed 90 megawatts; Sorik Marapi Unit II geothermal power station, 45 megawatts; nine micro-hydroelectric power stations, 56 megawatts; solar power station, around 13 megawatts; and bio-energy power station, 12.5 megawatts.

For the past five years, some 1,478 megawatts of electricity had been produced from renewable sources, with an average annualized increase of four percent. The additional energy produced will be distributed by the State Electricity Company (PLN) electrical grid system, Kusdiana stated.

Kusdiana noted that Indonesia had huge solar energy potential equivalent to 207.8 gigawatts, yet the utilization was only at 0.1 percent as of 2021. The ministry has encouraged to build more solar panels by increasing the feed-in tariff ratio, from 1:0.65 to 1:1 that will allow solar panel owners to earn additional income by selling their surplus electricity to the state, he added.

Reviewing global trends, the transition to renewable energy sources is inevitable, yet the domestic electricity supply still needs to be taken into account, according to Kusdiana.

“Vietnam has an advanced solar power station system, and we have already planned to develop the solar power system here. Malaysia is also currently developing its solar power system with a feed-in tariff plan that is similar to ours,” Kusdiana remarked while highlighting neighboring nations with similar plans to develop solar energy resources.

Kusdiana is optimistic of achieving the target of securing 23 percent of the primary energy from renewable sources in four years, especially after the government agrees to the electricity supply provision plan by PLN for the 2021-2030 period.

“The electricity provision plan sets the proportion of renewable energy to 51.6 percent, and I am optimistic that the government will agree to this plan,” Kusdiana stated.

Source: antaranews