Indonesia Proceeds With Its Ambitious Energy Transition
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By Anna McNulty
October 7, 2024
JAKARTA—A blanket of 340,000 solar panels floats on a crystal-blue reservoir outside Jakarta, generating enough energy to power 50,000 homes. Just 10 months old, the Cirata Floating Solar Power Plant is the third-largest facility of its kind in the world.
Four hours away by car, a coal-fired power plant spews steam into the sky through its towering red-and-white striped chimney. Mid-sized in terms of energy production, the Cirebon-1 Steam Power facility is significant for another reason. Opened in 2012, it’s scheduled to close by 2035—almost a decade sooner than originally planned.
The energy operations represent two sides of Indonesia’s attempted transition, over the next quarter-century, from being a country dominantly fueled by coal to one powered by renewables.
At the heart of this effort is a new model of climate finance that relies on wealthy countries to bankroll the decarbonization of coal-dependent developing countries. Already, the United States and the United Kingdom have committed a combined $2 billion toward what is known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
The JETP is “one of the only vehicles that exists for wealthy countries, including their private sectors, to commit to providing financing for developing economies to transition to net zero,” said Scot Marciel, the former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia.
Proponents of the model are banking on success in Indonesia after seeing less-than-hoped-for results in South Africa, the first country to receive a JETP.
Government officials, financiers and energy developers in Indonesia are acknowledging that, even with JETP financing, the country cannot achieve its JETP targets: 44 percent renewables and carbon dioxide emissions capped at 250 million metric tons by 2030, and a net zero power sector by 2050, ten years earlier than the government’s net-zero goal for the entire country.
Still, they believe the JETP has been a positive force for galvanizing momentum and coordination for Indonesia’s energy transition.
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