T

he ambitious 35,000 megawatt electricity program kicked off in 2015 but has yet to contribute significantly to the electricity supply. Only 2,800 MW of the power plants in the program were in operation as of December.

Meanwhile, data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry show that 18,200 MW are still under construction.

Initially, the government targeted to complete the program in 2019, but later, Minister Ignasius Jonan acknowledged that the program would miss the target.

The ministry’s electricity program supervision director, Jisman P. Hutajulu, said on Thursday that 33 percent the 35,000 MW power plant projects were awaiting environmental permits and acquiring land.

“Thirty-three percent of the power plant projects are still arranging environmental permits and carrying out land acquisition. It makes it hard for the contractors to get funding,” he said.

He added that 5 percent of the total 35,000 MW were in the procurement phase.

Along 2018, investment value for the projects reached US$11.28 billion from the initial target of $12.2 billion. But the figure was 24.5 percent higher than the investment realization in 2017, which was recorded at $9.06 billion.

Despite the issues, the government claims to have reached 98.3 percent electrification in 2018 and aims to reach 99.9 percent this year, thanks to the use of small photovoltaic power plants in remote areas.