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RI pursues nuclear path to meet demand for low-carbon power
The country is planning to add nuclear power to the national energy mix through a small-scale nuclear power plant, targeted to start operating by 2032, as part of its energy transition to fulfill its net-zero commitment.
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The 500-megawatt floating nuclear plant project by Thorcon International, proposed for development in Indonesia, appears in this artist’s rendering. (Handout/Thorcon International)
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ndonesia aims to begin commercial operations of a small-scale nuclear power plant in 2032, seven years earlier than its initial target of 2039, as it seeks ways to meet domestic energy demand without abandoning its net-zero commitment under the Paris Agreement.
National electricity demand is expected to increase 50 percent by 2030 and then quintuple by 2060, posing a challenge for the new government of President Prabowo Subianto, which has pledged to phase out fossil energy sources within 15 years.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy, as of 2023, generated 67 percent of its power – excluding that from captive power plants – from coal and another 21 percent from gas and diesel, according to Thomas Hansmann, a partner at consultancy McKinsey & Company.
The Prabowo administration, which was installed in October, has announced plans to offer international investors opportunities to build plants in the country with a total renewable power capacity of 75 gigawatts (GW) over the next 15 years.
“If Indonesia is to maintain energy security while achieving net zero by 2060, it would mean expanding power generation capacity to over 400 GW, [with] 75 percent from renewable sources,” Hansmann said in a statement provided to The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
He was responding to a question about the possibility of Indonesia meeting its electricity demand in the next 15 years without tapping into nuclear power.
Hansmann also explained that the country’s transition from coal to low-carbon power while meeting demand growth would depend on the pace and scale of renewable energy investments, especially in baseload renewables, as well as the adoption of carbon mitigating technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).
