TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsDeforestation hurts hydropower production
An Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry official says the government is banking on hydropower, which can generate baseload electricity, to be the main renewable energy source as the country looks to reduce reliance on coal-fired power plants.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
PT Poso Energy, a Kalla Group renewable energy subsidiary, operates the 515 megawatt Poso hydropower plant in Poso, Central Sulawesi. (Kalla Group/-)
An Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry official has identified deforestation as a risk for hydropower projects in Indonesia.
“What is the problem with hydropower? Recently, I had a discussion with hydroelectric power industry [players], and [one of their complaints] is the declining water flow,” the ministry’s Renewables Director General Eniya Listiani Dewi told reporters on Monday.
The government is banking on hydropower, which can generate baseload electricity, as a key source of renewable energy to help the country reduce its reliance on coal-fired power plants.
“The declining water flow is caused by deforestation in the mountains. It’s happening everywhere. We have to pay attention to the upstream [areas], specifically [those near] hydropower plants.”
Indonesia added 217.73 megawatts in renewable energy capacity in the January-June period, according to energy ministry data, or 66.6 percent of the 326.91 MW target set for the full year. The additional capacity is dominated by hydro and solar power plants.
Read also: RI offers Kayan, Mamberamo hydropower plant investment opportunities to China
Harris Yahya, a high-ranking official within the ministry's Renewables Directorate General, said land degradation in catchment areas upstream of reservoirs had caused a decline in the flow rate at dams.
