Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani. — The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani is pushing for the establishment of additional green industrial zones to ensure Indonesia can compete with neighbouring countries in attracting foreign investment.
The future industrial estates are to incorporate clean energy providers to accommodate foreign manufacturers’ preference for a low carbon footprint.
“It’s not that we have to, it’s just the demand; market demand that we must cater to. If we don’t, we’ll be left behind by many countries, particularly, and easily, by neighbouring countries,” the minister was quoted as saying by Detik.
Speaking at the detikcom Leaders Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday, Rosan postulated that the shift to green manufacturing is an “inevitability”, noting that many foreign manufacturers of electric vehicles “champion” the use of clean energy among their business goals.
The newly installed minister said the governance of natural resources and the environment ranked among the top priorities for overseas companies’ and a driving factor behind their decisions to invest in a particular country.
Rosan went on to explain that Indonesia had a renewable energy potential amounting to 3.677 TWh but that only a small part of that was used.
To date, renewable sources account for 13.9% of the national energy mix, with around 241MW of renewable electricity entering the grid since the beginning of the year, or 73% of the annual target of 327MW, according to the latest data released by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
Indonesia’s General National Energy Plan (RUEN) aims for a renewables portion of 23% in the national energy mix in 2025, which is a far cry from the current share.
Although they have constantly increased, the proportion of renewable energy has failed to match the RUEN targets by quite a margin every year since 2016.
The ministry revealed last Friday that it aimed to use decommissioned coal and mineral mining sites for solar power projects to boost renewable electricity generation.
Lana Saria, an expert for natural resource economics at the energy ministry, said many former coal and mineral mines in Sumatra and Kalimantan could be used to instal ground-mounted solar panels.
“Some (mines) entering their post-mining operations have [already] gone through this process. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
