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Singapore ready for clean power trade, but Indonesia not so much
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This photograph taken on Jan. 22, 2021, shows a worker pulling a cable along a floating solar power farm at sea off Singapore's northern coast just across from the Malaysian state of Johor. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)
S
ingapore may have to keep waiting for green electricity from Indonesia, as Jakarta demands a reassessment of the deal, but analysts warn that overcomplicating negotiations will put Indonesia at a loss.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia insists that Singapore offer tangible benefits, including a commitment to invest in Indonesia’s solar panel and battery energy storage systems (BESS) industry, before Indonesia exports renewable electricity to the city-state.
“We must have equal treatment. We are in the ASEAN region, we want to share. We want to share with Singapore, but what will Singapore give us?” Bahlil said in Jakarta on Feb. 21.
Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) issued conditional approval to import low-carbon electricity from two Indonesian solar power projects in 2023, but Jakarta has been sending mixed signals on renewable energy exports ever since.
To move forward, the bilateral agreement requires implementing regulations from Indonesia’s energy ministry. If those are issued, exports could begin in three to four years.
Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR), said overcomplicating the implementation would “put Indonesia at a loss”, as hesitating on the plan would impede foreign direct investment (FDI) in renewable energy development.
“It could impede other business opportunities for Indonesia. As for Singapore, they still have options to get renewable electricity from elsewhere,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
