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Explainer: New revision to reduce benefits of owning rooftop solar panel
The government's move to revise existing regulations is seen by the industry as a step back to Indonesia’s struggle to push for rooftop solar panel adoption.
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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 refinery in Cilacap, Central Java. (Courtesy of Pertamina)
T
he government is mulling over the revision of a ministerial regulation that was supposed to incentivize rooftop solar panel adoption, a move seen by the industry as a step back to Indonesia’s push to bring clean energy closer to customers’ doorstep.
The revision will impact the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministerial Regulation No. 26/2021 as the most recent rule for rooftop solar panels, which deemed by the industry and customers has brought massive improvement compared to many of its predecessors.
Indonesia has made many attempts to enact a reliable regulatory framework, hoping to spur rooftop solar panel adoptions as part of a larger effort to have renewables contribute to at least 23 percent of the national energy mix by 2025.
Currently, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry aims to have 2.14 gigawatts of solar power capacity installed by 2030 with 0.64 GW of which would be installed in households, 0.74 GW at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the rest in industries and businesses.
As of November 2022, however, Indonesia only managed to get a total of 6,461 rooftop solar panel users with a total installed capacity of 77.6 megawatts peak, indicating a large discrepancy between the current development and the desired target.
The following are some of the key points of the planned changes from the ministerial regulation, based on a document seen by The Jakarta Post, with the enactment of a capacity quota and elimination of the electricity export system being the most highlighted planned changes.
Quota based system
