Jakarta – The city of Surabaya has officially started the implementation of the Sustainable Energy Transition in Indonesia (SETI) project, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, on Thursday, 17 April. The SETI project, which will last until 2028, is an essential milestone in implementing emission reduction strategies in the building sector – a sector that contributes to high energy consumption in cities.
Surabaya City Government is mandated to implement this project as a national pilot city. The cooperation programme between the Government of Indonesia and Germany, designed to accelerate the sustainable energy transition in urban areas, began on Wednesday, 16 April.
According to Andriah Feby Misna, Director of Various New and Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Surabaya was not chosen without reason.
“Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia, with very high economic growth and construction sector. The city has also implemented green building certification and has qualified local capacity,” he said.
Feby added that that through SETI project support, Surabaya is expected to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency and using renewable energy in buildings. “We want economic growth in big cities like Surabaya to go hand in hand with the decarbonisation agenda,” he continued.
The implementation of the SETI project in Surabaya will focus on the building sector, which includes government, commercial, and residential buildings. Based on SETI 2024 data, there are 649,763 buildings in the city. About 3% are government buildings, 7% are commercial buildings, and the remaining 90% are residential buildings.
Lisa Tinschert, Director of the Energy Programme at GIZ, the project’s German implementing agency, said the support provided includes technical studies, capacity training, and policy planning.
“We are ready to assist the Surabaya City Government in designing strategies and implementing building decarbonisation projects with a comprehensive and participatory approach,” she said.
Synergy between central and local government is key to success
Meanwhile, Edison Siagian, Director of Synchronisation of Local Government Affairs I at the Ministry of Home Affairs, emphasised the importance of cross-sector and cross-government policy integration. “Energy transition is not only the responsibility of the centre. It needs harmonisation between regional development plans and the national agenda so that programmes like SETI can run effectively from planning to monitoring,” he said.
Meanwhile, Surabaya City Secretary Ikhsan welcomed the launch of this project and considered this step in line with the sustainable programmes that Surabaya has carried out so far. “We have started with energy efficiency at City Hall and the construction of Joyoboyo Intermodal Terminal with environmentally friendly materials,” he said, appreciating that Surabaya has become the first city to decarbonise the building sector systematically. “We will collaborate with all parties to make Surabaya a livable and sustainable city”.
Feby emphasised that if the SETI project works well in Surabaya, its approach can be adapted to other cities in Indonesia. “This model can be a blueprint for city-based energy transition, which places energy efficiency as the foundation of low-carbon development,” she said.
With the SETI project, the Government of Indonesia, together with Germany, shows a real commitment to facing the climate crisis, starting from the sector closest to everyday life: the buildings where we live and work. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: Francesco Ungaro/pexels.com
