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Indonesia on course to become major solar power exporter
Recently announced solar power export projects could point to a new trend as local and international companies look to tap into growing demand for clean energy in the region.
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Signatories to a cross-border pilot project for clean power export from Indonesia to Singapore pose for a photograph at the signing ceremony in Singapore on Oct. 25, 2021.
E
xperts interpret recently announced solar power projects as harbingers of an export-focused strategy in which local and international companies look to sell clean power from Indonesia to neighboring countries.
Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) executive director Fabby Tumiwa said solar power exports would be largely driven by Singapore’s plan to diversify its electricity supply with a focus on new and renewable energy (NRE) sources.
“There are tremendous opportunities for exporting renewable energy to neighboring countries, especially Singapore,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He was referring to an announcement made two days earlier by Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong that the city state was targeting 4 gigawatts worth of low-carbon electricity imports by 2035.
Rising demand for low-carbon electricity presents NRE power plant developers with new opportunities to export energy to Singapore or other countries of the region.
Anurag Chatterjee, who serves as APAC region business development manager at Norway-based classification and advisory services firm DNV, expects increasing intra-ASEAN energy trade thanks to rising regional demand due to population and economic growth.
Given the commercial interest in exports, Fabby, who also chairs the Indonesian Solar Energy Association (AESI), urged the government to ensure NRE power plant developers prioritized domestic NRE supply to help the country achieve the promised 23 percent NRE portion in the national energy mix by 2025.
