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New power plan projects slower demand growth, more renewables
The latest long-term electricity procurement plan (RUPTL) introduces broad changes hoped to make power production more sustainable, but experts warn that finance-related issues might undermine goal.
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A worker dusts a 600-kWp solar power plant on Gili Trawangan Island in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, in this undated picture. (PLN/PLN)
T
he government hopes a new long-term electricity procurement plan (RUPTL) will make domestic power supply more sustainable, but experts warn finance-related issues might undermine that goal.
A revision of the 2019-2028 RUPTL, the new 2021-2030 RUPTL introduces substantial changes to the government’s long-term energy road map.
Presenting the plan to the public on Tuesday, officials from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and state-owned electricity company PLN said the changes sought to address the costly excess capacity in the Java-Bali grid, the country’s lagging energy transition and uneven access to electricity across the archipelago.
However, energy experts separately said that finance-related issues, such as PLN’s shrinking cash flow and the country’s lack of green energy incentives, might undermine the new RUPTL’s goals.
The energy ministry's electrification director general, Rida Mulyana, said on Tuesday the new RUPTL “took longer [to write] than previous ones” as it also accommodated more recent changes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the global energy transition and new domestic policies.
“The government and PLN were very careful in devising the new RUPTL with regard to power demand and planning of power plants, transmission and distribution systems,” he said.
The long-awaited 2021-2030 RUPTL is a key document to understanding the direction of Indonesia’s power industry, which plays a central role in the country’s economic development and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
