Jakarta – Although Indonesia is aggressively promoting the energy transition towards more environmentally friendly sources, the Coordinator of Mineral and Coal Downstreaming at the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR), Ansari, at the Coal Summit 2024 in Samarinda, said that dependence on coal is still high.
The official statement of the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal, released on Monday, July 1, projected that around 67 per cent of Indonesia’s mix still uses coal as an energy source.
Data from the Handbook of Energy and Economic Statistics of Indonesia 2023, released by the EMR Ministry on June 7, 2024, shows that coal production has continued to increase in the last 10 years. In 2023, coal production will reach 775.18 million tons, up 63 per cent compared to 474.37 million tons in 2013.
This increase also occurred in domestic coal consumption, which jumped from 72.07 million tons in 2013 to 212.87 million tons in 2023.
This high dependence on coal is reinforced by the plan for high coal production in the next three years. Domestic coal production from 2024 to 2026 is targeted at 710-730 million tons annually.
Meanwhile, data recorded as of Monday, July 1, shows domestic coal production reached 370.28 million tons. In detail, the export realisation was 188.68 million tons, and the domestic realisation was 168.78 million tons.
Seeing this condition, Ansari emphasised the importance of accelerating the development of the downstream coal industry so that it can be utilised optimally and safely for the environment. In addition, it is necessary to optimise the use of biofuels and other renewable energy to replace fossil energy in mining areas.
“It is also important to set a strategy so that the energy transition can provide economic opportunities,” Ansari explained. (Hartatik)
