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Renewables investment, energy mix misses 2021 targets
The government attributed the shortfalls to the COVID-19 pandemic and unrealistic targets.
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One of the efforts to develop new renewable energy is through the use of solar panels in Pertamina’s operational areas, here seen at the company's refinery in Cilacap, Central Java. (Courtesy of Pertamina)
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ndonesia missed multiple renewable energy development targets set for 2021 with the government blaming the shortfalls on the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and unrealistic targets.
Renewables comprised 11.5 percent of the national energy mix in 2021, far below the 14.5 percent target set in the National General Energy Planning (RUEN) road map for that year, according to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry data.
The data also show the country only added 654.76 megawatts of renewable energy capacity last year, or 77 percent of the annual target, while investment in renewables reached US$1.51 billion or 74 percent of the target.
“RUEN is designed with high energy demand growth estimates. This caused our renewables realization to be well below the RUEN target. In reality, energy demand is not as high as targeted in RUEN,” said the ministry's Renewable Energy Director General Dadan Kusdiana on Monday.
“The pandemic was still there in 2021, so some projects were delayed, unable to be operational in 2021,” he added.
Read also: Painstakingly slow progress on renewable energy infrastructure
Indonesia has set a target to have at least 23 percent of renewables in its energy mix by 2025, leaving the country just three years left to do so. The ministry estimated at least 2,000 MW of installed capacity needed to come online annually to hit the mark, but the realizations were constantly below expectations.
