“Indonesia is endowed with various renewable energy sources, and up to 89 percent of more than 3,600 GW potentials scattered nationwide comes from solar energy. But, we must be careful and must not sacrifice our forests for solar panels because we need to maintain (our forests)," he said at the "Shine Bright: Advancing G20 Solar Leadership" webinar on Thursday.
According to Indonesia's energy transition road map, solar power will be essential to fulfill the national electricity demand as around 21 GW of the 700 GW of renewable energy capacity will originate from solar energy.
Despite Indonesia's commitment to a low-emission economy and the 2060 net-zero emissions target, the minister said that the development of geothermal energy is also essential in the intermediary stage before renewable energy reaches an economic and commercially viable scale.
Intermittent solar issues could be addressed by harnessing energy from water or geothermal resources, he added.
According to the minister, as an island country, Indonesia needs a power transmission network to distribute electricity from power production centers to consumer centers.
He revealed that Indonesia is planning to develop a super-grid transmission system to provide energy access and alleviate the gap between renewable energy sources in regions requiring high electricity supply.
"We also open the opportunity to export electricity produced by our renewable energy to ASEAN countries through the ASEAN Power Grid," Tasrif said.
All parties must contribute to the implementation of energy transition strategies to achieve a zero carbon economy, he said, adding that not only the government and the business sector, but energy developers and users must also contribute to the process.
"Support from local manufacturers and industries is essential as Indonesia has a mineral and essential mineral potential as raw materials for solar PV (photovoltaic cells), batteries, and electric cables," the minister said.
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Translator: Ade Irma Junida, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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