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View all search resultsGovt backtracks on early retirement of Cirebon-1 coal plant
Experts are now pressing the government to spell out which plants might replace Cirebon-1 in the retirement pipeline and the criteria guiding that selection.
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A bus travels near the Cirebon-1 coal-fired power plant on Oct. 18, 2020, in Cirebon, West Java. The Asian Development Bank has agreed to help the state-owned electricity company PLN retire the plant 15 years early. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
D
espite state-owned electricity firm PLN’s claim that the early retirement of the Cirebon-1 coal-fired power plant remains “under review,” officials have signaled that the plan is essentially off the table, which would mark a setback in the government’s clean-energy pledge.
Experts are now pressing the government to spell out which plants might replace Cirebon-1 in the retirement pipeline and the criteria guiding that selection.
Energy market intelligence outlet Petromindo reported on Wednesday that PLN “has officially canceled” its plan to retire the 660-megawatt (MW) Cirebon-1 coal-fired power plant early because of economic viability concerns.
In the report, PLN project management and renewable energy director Suroso Isnandar detailed the financial rationale behind the reversal, shifting from an accelerated coal retirement to a more gradual "phasedown" that relies on the plant’s natural retirement at the end of its existing power purchase agreement (PPA).
According to PLN’s calculations, retiring the Cirebon-1 plant just five years earlier than its scheduled end of its PPA in 2042 would cost the firm an estimated Rp 130 trillion (US$8.4 billion). This colossal sum includes Rp 60 trillion in remaining contract payments owed to the plant’s independent power producer (IPP), plus an additional Rp 70 trillion needed to build replacement renewable energy infrastructure.
Explaining the replacement cost, Suroso told Petromindo that substituting Cirebon-1’s 600 MW output would require approximately 3,600 MW of solar capacity and significant battery storage to maintain grid stability, rendering an early closure “a highly financially burdensome option.”
The Cirebon project has long been viewed as a test case for the early retirement of coal-fired power plants under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), a G7-backed initiative that pledged $21.6 billion to help Indonesia shift from coal to cleaner energy.
