Clean energy poses challenge to coal-reliant Indonesia

Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman
The Jakarta Post

Jakarta / Wed, April 17, 2019 / 08:01 am

The Tanjung Power Indonesia coal-fired power plant in Tanjung, Tabalong, South Kalimantan, as seen from above on March 13. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)

The government, which is highly dependent on coal for power generation, will be facing challenges from consumers as more and more people are shifting to clean energy, an energy expert says. Fabby Tumiwa, the executive director of local energy think tank the Institute for Essential Service Reform (IESR), made the statement after the institute published a report titled “Indonesia’s Coal Dynamics: Toward a Just Energy Transition” recently. In its report, the IESR concludes that two types of renewable energy will be cheaper than coal-generated electricity by 2030 and wind power will be on par with coal by 2050. "For example, the price of solar photovoltaic [PV] electricity in 2030 will stand at 4.69 US cents per kilowatt hours [kWh], while the price of coal will stand at 5.15 to 5.25 US cents per kWh,” he said. “In other words, PLN [...

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