The Government Wants to Shut Down Coal Power Plants; Take This Into Account

 

Lethal injection of coal-fired power stations (PLTU) is once again a topic of discussion. The government's strategy will be implemented in order to make the switch to more environmentally friendly forms of energy.

President Jokowi has expressed the government's desire to hasten the early retirement of coal-fired power stations on a number of occasions. Including during my speech at the Hannover Congress Centrum, Hannover, Germany, on Sunday, April 16, 2023, during the Hannover Messe occasion.

In the US on Friday, April 14, 2023, Coordinating Minister Luhut met with Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry. Coordinating Minister Luhut brought up the US$ 20 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) that was decided upon during the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit held at The Apurva Kempinski, Nusa Dua, Bali, on November 15–16, 2022, at the meeting.

Hafif Assaf, a Public Policy Observer and member of the Energy Discussion Supervisory Board, compared JETP and the early retirement of coal-fired power facilities to two sides of the same coin. Each has a tight connection to the other.

He commended the administration for taking the effort to create a road map for this and recommended that all parties might be involved in the creation of a road map for the early retirement of coal-fired power facilities.

In a written statement released on Thursday (20/4/2023), he stated that "not only the government, but also employers, workers, and academics, so that the road map that is born is comprehensive in accordance with Presidential Regulation Number 112 of 2022 concerning the Acceleration of Development of Renewable Energy for the Supply of Electricity."

For instance, the rule states that no new PLTU development is permitted unless it was already in the RUPTL before the Perpres was approved and has captive power, which means it already has customers, like industrial sectors.

Additionally, the country's requirement for electricity is significantly impacted by the presence of coal-fired power plants. With a share of 50% of the nation's total electrical generation," he continued.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, a total of 33 coal-fired PLTUs with a capacity of 16.8 gigawatts (GW) would be retired, with a starting point of 5.52 GW until 2030.

He asserts that it is equally necessary to prevent this admirable government policy from having an impact on the more than 100,000 coal industry workers, excluding those employed at PLTU.

"The government must also take steps to protect business owners of coal-fired power facilities. Give them sufficient time to change their energy business over to environmentally friendly energy, and offer suitable rewards and incentives so that their interest in investing does not wane in the future.

In addition to that, he asserts that a crucial aspect of the energy transition is the urgent necessity to complete the EBT Bill's writing because it will serve as the primary basis for a regulation. As far as is known, it was resolved to extend the period for discussing the bill at the DPR RI Plenary Meeting on April 13, 2023.

The still-debated plan for sharing the electricity network between PT PLN (Persero) and private generators (power wheeling) is one among the factors that led to the government and the DPR RI extending the period for discussing the EBT Bill. This plan is thought to be able to make it easier to transmit electrical energy from EBT sources or non-PLN generators to the company's operational facilities.

Naturally, we hope that the government and the DPR can come to an agreement during the following session after this break. Therefore, it is envisaged that the EBT Bill will be finished this year and that it would serve as the cornerstone for JETP sustainability.

 

 

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