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PLN to offer 1.2 GW worth of new and renewable energy projects
The state-owned electricity monopolist says investment opportunities in clean energy projects are wide open.
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State-owned electricity company PLN will tender 21 new and renewable (NRE) projects for the 2021-2022 procurement period.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif said on Monday that the projects on offer, which are estimated to have a combined generation capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, were part of the 2021-2030 long-term electricity procurement plan (RUPTL).
The projects offered include seven geothermal power plants and six hydroelectric power plants with a combined capacity of 660 megawatt and 235 MW, respectively. The minister also announced at the same event the signing of contracts worth US$3.9 billion for four NRE projects with a total capacity of 14.5 MW.
“The NRE sector is wide open for investments,” he said during the New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Conference and Exhibition (EBTKE ConEx).
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The energy ministry’s director for new and renewable energy, Chrisnawan Anditya, said monitoring the procurement process would be crucial to ensure its success. However, he also said that the planned 1.2 GW of installed capacity from the projects would still be insufficient to achieve the targeted 23 percent NRE share in the national energy mix by 2025.
In the last five years, the power-generation capacity of NRE plants has increased by 1,469 MW, or at an average annual growth rate of 4 percent. This figure is less than half of the 3,000 MW in annual capacity increase needed for NRE to make up 23 percent of the national energy mix by 2025, data from the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) show.
Indonesia needed to add 14 GW of NRE generation capacity in the 2020 to 2025 period, IESR executive director Fabby Tumiwa said on Oct. 25, which meant that the country still needed to add 13 GW in the next three years.
Read also: Painstakingly slow progress on renewable energy infrastructure
Wiluyo Kusdwiharto, PLN’s mega projects and new and renewable energy director, said the new projects would be implemented in 2022 as developers needed time to review the latest RUPTL.
“These NRE projects are expected to begin the first half of next year,” said Wiluyo, speaking at the same event on Monday.
Separately, Nailul Huda, an economist with the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), said ensuring a successful procurement would be a challenge for PLN considering the complexity of the process.
“Nevertheless, [this development] is a good step toward the energy transition in Indonesia,” Nailul told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
