Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Sweden have agreed to jointly develop renewable energy to generate electricity.

By cooperating with Sweden which has more sophisticated technology for new and renewable energy, the domestic electricity tariffs will hopefully become more efficient, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said here on Friday.

"Hopefully, through this cooperation with Sweden which (has developed renewable energy-based power plants earlier), the tariffs of electricity produced by hydro and wind power plants will be cheaper," he said.

By signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Sweden to that effect, he expressed the hope that the development of new and renewable energy to generate electrical power could be implemented across Indonesia to achieve more efficient electricity tariffs through effective technology.

The development of new and renewable energy-based power plants will be adjusted to the geographical condition by, among others, taking into account large resources found in the locations for the power plants, he said.

"If gas resources are much found there, we will try to develop gas-fueled power plants. If there is no gas resource but rivers or waterfalls are found there, we can build hydro power plants there," he said.

Meanwhile, Swedish Coordinating Minister for Policy and Energy Ibrahim Baylan said both countries will try to develop environmentally friendly power plants.

"The objective of energy policy is to ensure electricity supplies to industries and households with competitive prices and the smallest possible environmental impact," he said.

Indonesia and Sweden can learn from each other to create environmentally friendly energy, moreover, Sweden holds the highest share of renewable energy market and offers the lowest price of new and renewable energy in European Union.

In addition, Sweden has also recorded significant economic growth in the past 30 years by using less electrical power than in the previous 30 years.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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