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s part of attempts to boost the development of new and renewable energy, the governments of Indonesia and India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday for cooperation in the sector, which has been described as a prospective but expensive source of energy.

The MoU, which was signed by Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Gujrit Singh and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry'€™s director general for new-renewable energy and energy conservation Rida Mulyana, covers areas such as the exchange of information and technology for the development of joint projects and research, transfer of technology, promotion and investment, policy dialogs and capacity building.

'€œThis cooperation is important as both India and Indonesia have committed to reducing carbon emissions by 35 percent and 29 percent, respectively, by 2030,'€ said Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, after the signing of the MoU at the Indonesian Vice President'€™s Office.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla added that the cooperation in the new-renewable energy sector would also strengthen the two countries'€™ relationship, particularly in investments and trade.

Following the signing of the agreement, the energy and mineral resources minister planned to visit India to discuss further details of the cooperation.

The ministry'€™s director general Rida said that his office would likely focus the cooperation on developing wind power generation and solar cells, with which India has had success.

'€œIndia already has a lot of wind farms and about 70 percent of its electricity from new-renewable energy is supported by wind power generation. I want to learn how they are able to sell the electricity at a low price '€” whether they reduce the tax or other systems are implemented,'€ he added.

Thanks to its location close to the equator, Indonesia has year-round sunshine that is ready to be utilized to generate electricity. The wind potential is also expected to be significant. However, development of the potential energy sources is hampered by numerous issues, particularly financing.

Moreover, wind and solar cell farms usually need large plots of land, which has long been an issue in Indonesia. Infrastructure projects are frequently hampered as land must first be acquired from local residents who do not wish to give up their property.

Rida said his office was currently working to settle land issues relating to the development of solar cell farms. Under the plan, the ministry is mulling establishing floating solar cells on a number of lakes in Indonesia. A pilot project is expected to take place in Bali, according to Rida.

'€œWe have big lakes that are thousands of hectares in size. We can use several hectares on the surface to establish floating solar cells. We will not have land acquisition issues there but of course we have to cooperate with local residents who utilize the lakes,'€ Rida said.

Wind and solar power plants are already part of the government'€™s long-term plan of mixed forms of energy in electricity generation. By 2025, the government is expecting that new and renewable energy will account for 25 percent of the energy mix.

Earlier this year, the development of an on-shore wind turbine farm kicked off in Bantul, Yogyakarta. The plant is designed to have 33 turbines of between 1.5 to 2 megawatts in capacity. To produce the roughly 50 MW in total capacity, as much as Rp 1.5 trillion would be needed.