Jakarta – The government will prioritise areas with electricity oversupply as targets for the coal-powered power plants early retirement program, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR), late February. This is a commitment to the realisation of energy transition funding cooperation or the Just Energy Transitions Partnership (JETP).
“To determine which plant will be retired, the government will later choose a coal powered plant in an area with excess electricity production. The power plant is also considered to be inefficient and the combustion is not according to the initial specifications,” said EMR Minister Arifin Tasrif.
Furthermore, he said that the coal-fired power plant early retirement program would not cause loss to the power plants’ owners, because the value of the company’s assets will be calculated if their operations are stopped. To speed up the closing, the current value will be calculated and the value after the planned accelerated years. The power plant’s assets will be purchased and then operated with a faster time leading to its termination.
The JETP secretariat, according to Tasrif, is ready to work on realising the funding of energy transition cooperation. One of their tasks in the next six months is to complete the coal power plant early retirement roadmap.
Indonesia received a funding commitment of USD 20 billion from the G20 countries, including to retire coal-powered plants as part of the JETP program. The funding takes various forms, from grants, loans to assistance. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: PLTU Cirebon-1 with the capacity of 660 megawatt (MW) will be retired early through the energy transition mechanism (ETM) scheme, funded by the Asia Development Bank (ADB). (Source: Cirebon Electric Power)
