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Pilot projects to accelerate renewable energy development Indonesia

Pilot projects to accelerate renewable energy development Indonesia Batur Volcano and Lake, Bali/ Indonesia (source: flickr/ tropicaLiving, creative commons)
Francisco Rojas 17 Aug 2015

The Indonesian Government has the ambitious target of "using renewable energy to generate 23 percent of the total power in Indonesia by 2025."

Indonesia needs to up the ante in order to keep up with energy demand. There is increasing pressure to add more power and the nation’s government has recognised that renewables are a key. The question is where to start. There have been many changes in Indonesia’s energy market but a lower reliance on fossil fuels, faster project development and more allowing renewable energy exploration and exploitation are just happening recently.

According to local news, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry “has rolled out a plan that would make a number of provinces less dependent on fossil fuels for generating electricity”. This ambitious plan would see areas such as Bali would be 100% renewable as soon as 2018. This will be done via a pilot project programme that if successful could be replicated across the country.

Exact details of the project are scarce. According to the same source, “William Sabandar, a senior advisor to the ministry on renewable energy, said Thursday that the government was now working to reach the ambitious target of using renewable energy to generate 23 percent of the total power in Indonesia by 2025.”

The task ahead is not easy, since the country only has 6% of green energy as of today. Testing and pilot power projects such as the one in Bali will act as catalysers of renewable energy development and help the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Source: Jakarta Post

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