The electricity director general at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Rida Mulyana, noted that, in the existing RUPTL, renewable sources of energy contributed only around 30 percent of electricity produced, while fossil-fuel power plants made up the remaining 70 percent. Under the revision the government was now drafting, renewables may contribute 48 percent, leaving 52 percent for fossil fuels, he added.

Rida noted that those numbers were not final as the government was still discussing the draft. He said the government hoped that renewables could, in fact, dominate the energy road map with a share of 51 percent.

“We want to compose a greener RUPTL,” Rida told reporters at a virtual press conference held by the ministry on Friday.

“We do not mean to vilify coal, but we want to achieve the best for our country,” said Rida.

Rida said the plan was in line with the government’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and would be presented during the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to be held at Glasgow, United Kingdom, in November.

Rida admitted that the government did not have much choice, because power plants burning fossil fuels were becoming harder to build each day. He said notable banks and financial institutions had vowed to stop financing such projects, which made it difficult for contractors to get funds and increased the risk of projects stalling.

Furthermore, Indonesia faces serious electricity oversupply, as demand has only been growing by around 4 percent on average lately, far below the government’s projection of 6.4 percent. According to ministry data, at least 4.79 GW of power generating capacity is idle in the system of state-owned electricity company (PLN) alone as of Wednesday.

In response, the government is considering to scrap some of the projects under its plan for an additional 35 GW in generating capacity, mainly projects that are in the planning or bidding stage and have not yet entered the construction phase. In total, more than 6 GW worth of projects could be affected.

Scaling back the 35 GW plan could help Indonesia achieve a greener RUPTL. According to PLN data, fossil fuel projects account for around 33 GW of the total.

Rida declined to reveal more details, saying that, “we are still in the middle of evaluating [the plan]”.

Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) executive director Fabby Tumiwa said raising the renewables portion in the RUPTL to 48 percent was still not enough to make the 10-year plan greener. Based on his analysis, at least 11.2 GW worth of fossil-fuel-based power plants will launch from 2021 to 2025, implying that the government was not serious enough about shifting to a greener plan.

Fabby suggested that at least 5 GW of fossil-based projects be cancelled so that the government could live up to its claim of a “greener RUPTL”. Should the government persist in building 11.2 GW of fossil-fuel-based capacity through 2025, it could make it even harder for renewable energy projects to get off the ground, he said.

Fabby said Indonesia would need at least 2 to 3 GW worth of new renewable power plants each year to reach its target of renewables accounting for at least 23 percent in the energy mix by 2025, as stipulated in the National Energy Plan (RUEN). However, Indonesia still had not met the minimum 2 to 3 GW target, because fossil-fuel plants still dominated projects in the pipeline, he said.

“The government should revoke more fossil-fuel-based power plants,” Fabby told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

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