A Case for Solar Rooftop in Indonesia

January 17, 2018

Ninety-five per cent of the primary energy requirement in Indonesia is met through fossil fuels — oil, gas and coal. However, because of the country’s limited reserves of these fuels as well as its commitment to the international community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 29 per cent by 2030, it must work towards reducing this dependence. The National Energy Policy (NEP) of 2014 aims to do just that — it will cut this dependence down from 95 to 72 per cent by 2025.1

But Indonesia faces many challenges in achieving this target. Approximately 41 million Indonesians (16 per cent of the total population) live without electricity,2 and around 12,000 villages are without power in the country. In addition to meeting the growing demands of the nation and adding new capacity, maintaining reliable and affordable electricity supply across 900 islands poses a major challenge for the state electricity provider, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). To address growth needs, the NEP plans to add 35 GW of new generation over the next five years (2014-2019), with 25 per cent of it coming from new and renewable energy sources.