Jakarta (ANTARA) – Despite Indonesia’s huge solar energy potential, the government will not sacrifice forests to expand the installation of solar panels, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif has confirmed.
“Indonesia has a variety of renewable energy sources, and up to 89% of the more than 3,600 GW of capacity scattered across the country comes from solar energy. But, we have to be careful and not sacrifice our forests for solar panels, because we have to protect (our forests),” he said during the “Bright Bright: Advancing G20 Solar Leadership” webinar on Thursday.
According to Indonesia’s energy transition roadmap, solar power will be essential to meet national electricity demand, as about 21 GW of the 700 GW of renewable energy capacity will come from solar power.
Despite Indonesia’s commitment to a low-emission economy and net-zero emissions target for 2060, the minister said geothermal development is also important in the interim before renewable energy reaches an economically and commercially viable scale.
He added that problems with intermittent solar energy can be solved by using water or geothermal resources.
According to the minister, as an island country, Indonesia needs a power transmission network to distribute electricity from production centers to consumption centers.
He announced that Indonesia plans to develop a super-grid transmission system to ensure access to energy and reduce the gap between renewable energy sources in regions that require high electricity supply.
“We are also opening up the opportunity to export electricity produced by our renewable energy to ASEAN countries through the ASEAN Power Grid,” Tasrif said.
To achieve a zero-carbon economy, all parties must contribute to the implementation of energy transition strategies, he said, adding that not only the government and the business sector, but also energy producers and users should contribute to the process.
“The support of local manufacturers and industries is important because Indonesia has mineral and basic mineral potential, such as raw materials for solar PV (photovoltaic cells), batteries and power cables,” he said.
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