Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Alignment of the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) to speed up the early retirement of coal-fired power plants (PLTU).

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Tuesday.

"This MoU is a milestone of ADB's collaboration with (Indonesia's) ETM and support from various donors through the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which will begin with the early retirement of PLTU," said Agus Cahyono Adi, an official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

The MoU was signed by the ministry's Director General of Electricity, Jisman Hutajulu, and ADB's Director General and Group Chief, Sectors Group, Asia, and the Pacific, Ramesh Subramaniam.

The signing was witnessed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif and ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.

Adi revealed that in general, the MoU aims to support decarbonization initiatives in Indonesia with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions (NZE) by ensuring early emission reduction.

Through the MoU, Indonesia seeks to ensure the decommissioning of PLTU in Indonesia through ETM and to promote the development of new and renewable energy-based plants.

ETM is ADB's financing program to accelerate sustainable energy transition from fossil energy to clean energy, in collaboration with governments, private investors, and philanthropy.

The ETM program is currently running in five countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

In Indonesia, the program is considered as being the most ambitious and progressive, according to Adi.

Minister Tasrif earlier announced that the government has prepared an early retirement plan for 15 PLTU, with a total capacity of 4.8 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, for which the funding is carried out under the JETP.

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