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Indonesia'€™s government is wasting the sun'€™s rays

Some good news for renewable energy supporters came from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo when he announced his commitment to allocate Rp 1 trillion (US$75 million) this year to build various renewable energy plants

Supriadi Legino (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, July 5, 2015

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Indonesia'€™s government is wasting the sun'€™s rays

S

ome good news for renewable energy supporters came from President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo when he announced his commitment to allocate Rp 1 trillion (US$75 million) this year to build various renewable energy plants.

However, people may be skeptical about whether this initiative will be utilized productively or prove to be mere rhetoric, as usual.

Let'€™s take one form of renewable energy as an example, solar power plants (SPP), with the sun as their energy source, which is free and available all the time.

The dramatic improvement in photovoltaic (PV) technology has seen the price of solar power drop dramatically from ¤1.97 (US$2.18) per kilowatt hour (kwh) in April 2010 to just 71 euro cents in April 2013. In line with this cost reduction, the number of PV plants around the world has been growing fantastically.

But ironically, things are different in Indonesia. The sun in this country shines everyday but there is no obvious growth in solar energy development. The Indonesian authorities seem to be halfhearted in their support of SPP development as indicated by our just 10 megawatts (MW) of total solar power capacity '€” compared to the sun'€™s many gigawatts (GW) of potential energy. SPPs are currently used for low-volume, remote consumers only. The future will be no better as only 321 MW of SPP capacity is listed in the state'€™s 2015-2024 electricity development plan.

A misleading statement came from a senior leader within the State Electricity Company (PLN) who asserted that solar energy could not be sufficient for Indonesia '€” which lies along the equator.

The fact is that irradiance from the sun in Indonesia, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) per square meter per year, ranges from 1400 to 2200, much higher, for example, than Germany'€™s range of 900 to 1200.

To make matters worse, the mindset of many top government officials is still trapped in the last decade when PV technology was still very costly compared to diesel power production. In fact, the cost of battery type, off-grid PV power has dropped to 30 to 35 cents per kWh, less than the cost of diesel power, which is around 40 cents per kWh.

Another factor damaging solar power development is the fact that many newly built SPPs have been either damaged or found to be not working properly within their first 5 years of operation, while the lifetime of SPPs can reach 20 to 25 years. It has added to the image of SPPs as being unreliable power plants. Indeed, the root cause of this issue is nothing to do with the PV technology itself but rather poor planning and designing processes, poor construction techniques and the use of low-quality equipment.

Misperceptions about SPPs have resulted in ineffective regulations. This is reflected in Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Regulation No 17/2013, which originally aimed to promote private sector involvement in SPP development, but that has proven to be an.

The total capacity of SPPs offered for tender by the ministry was only 130 MW '€” out of many GWs of potential. Another challenge, as explained by a top-level PLN officer, is that the budget deficit caused by SPPs will not be subsidized by the Finance Ministry.

This limits SPP development and is in contradiction with a government policy that subsidizes millions of tons of fuel each year. That is why many renewable energy initiatives remain on paper. It seems it is just nice to have plans for these projects.

The top government officials who are responsible for renewable energy development should shift their attitude from project-oriented to sustainable development-oriented. It is strongly recommended that the President himself leads the implementation of a Rp 1 trillion commitment to renewable energy development.

The regulation that limits SPP development, should be replaced by a regulation that supports the growth of solar energy. SPP construction is simple and fast and needs no transmission lines.

Therefore, PLN can utilize SPPs to put an end to the energy crisis currently happening in some areas.
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The writer is the director of STT-PLN Technical College Jakarta. This is a personal view.

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