Indonesia should take advantage of the trillions of US dollars that will be spent under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop clean energy in the country.
Adhityani Putri, the director of regional energy think-tank the Center for Energy Research Asia (CERA), said in order to avoid further environmental damage, the government could utilize the BRI to develop large-scale renewable energy power generation in the country.
“Why don’t we use the BRI to boost investment in large-scale renewable energy power plants. The funding from China could boost clean energy in the country,” she said at a media briefing about the promotion of clean energy in Indonesia this week.
Indonesia is set to offer at least four coal-fired power plant (PLTU) projects with a combined investment of about US$4 billion at the second BRI forum, which will be held in Beijing from April 25 to 27. The forum will be officially opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping
It is unclear whether or not Indonesia will offer renewable energy projects at the forum.
Purbaya Sadewa, the maritime coordination undersecretary in the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister, could not be reach for comment on Wednesday regarding the final list of projects that the government is set to propose for the BRI.
The four coal-fired power plants to be offered at the forum are the 400 to 600 megawatt PLTU Tanah Kuning-Mangkupadi in North Kalimantan that has a generation capacity of between 400 and 600 MW; two coal mine-mouth PLTUs, Kalselteng 3 and 4 in Central Kalimantan, that have capacities of 200 MW each and the expansion of PLTU Celukan Bawang in Bali that has a planned capacity of 700 MW, according to data from local environmental group Ecological Action and People’s Emancipation Association (AEER),
The names of the projects to be offered at the BRI forum is part of 28 projects worth $91.1 billion that the government is expected to propose to Chinese investors.
“Investing in clean energy is one of the criteria of investment the government wants to impose on Chinese investment,” Adhityani from CERA added.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said investments from China should be technology intensive and environmentally friendly, adding that the projects financed under the BRI should also promote a transfer of technology and prioritize the employment of local workers.
Local energy watchdog the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) suggested recently that the government should use the second BRI forum to highlight 10 gigawatt renewable energy-based power plants in Indonesia.
“There should be a focus on the development of 10 GW of solar, hydro, mini-hydro, geothermal, and biomass power plants,” the IESR’s executive director, Fabby Tumiwa, said.
From 2013 to 2018, China’s foreign investment in the energy sector was mainly focused on coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 20,000 MW, dwarfing the investment in solar and wind power plants at around 5,000 MW, according to the latest data from China’s environmental watchdog, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Green energy investment is in line with the commitment made by the Chinese president in his speech at the opening of the first BRI forum in May 2017.
“We propose the establishment of an international coalition for green development on the Belt and Road, and we will provide support to related countries in adapting to climate change,” he said then as quoted by xinhuanet.com.
However, Adhityani from the CERA said Chinese investors chose to develop coal-fired power plants instead of renewable energy-based power generation because Indonesia still preferred coal-fired ones.
“China, Japan and [South] Korea were asked why they mainly invested in coal rather than renewable energy. And all of them said that it’s because their governments demanded it,” she added.
Indonesia had the largest committed funding -- $5.2 billion -- for coal power from China that stood at more than 6 GW, which was 18 percent of the total coal capacity under development in the country, according to international energy think-tank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
AEER’s lead coordinator, Pius Ginting, said the government should start to offer renewable energy projects to China, which is currently one of world’s leading producers of solar panels.
“The government is the key. Investors won’t invest in renewable energy if the government does not offer it. […] We should take this moment to fight the trend [of investing in dirty energy] and refuse to become the market for dirty energy,” he added.
As of December last year, renewable energy accounts for just 13 percent of the country’s electricity use, while coal-fired power plants are still the main contributors with more than 50 percent of the total capacity at around 60 GW.
In January, Indonesia’s electricity capacity from renewable energy stood at 9.32 GW or only 2 percent of its total potential of electricity from renewable energy at 442 GW, data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry showed.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/04/25/calls-for-ri-to-offer-renewable-energy-not-coal-at-bri-forum.html