The Indonesian government plans to cease operations of coal-fired power plants (PLTU) to achieve its net-zero emission (NZE) target in the energy sector by 2050.
However, the decommissioning of PLTUs will only begin in 2035 and will be accelerated after 2040.
This plan is outlined in the Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP) document released by the Indonesian JETP Secretariat on November 1, 2023.
JETP, or Just Energy Transition Partnership, is an international financing cooperation program aimed at encouraging developing countries to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
In 2022, Indonesia received a total of US$20 billion in JETP financing commitments. The Indonesian government subsequently established the JETP Secretariat to plan and coordinate the implementation of these commitments.
In November 2023, the JETP Secretariat released the CIPP document, which details the implementation plan for JETP projects in Indonesia, including the phasing out of coal-fired power plants.
"Before 2030, no PLTUs will be decommissioned; the earliest closure (of PLTUs) will be in 2035/2036," stated the JETP Secretariat in the document.
The JETP Secretariat projects that Indonesia's coal-fired power plant capacity will continue to increase until 2030, reaching a total of 40.6 gigawatts (GW).
Then, in 2035, the capacity is projected to decrease to 39.4 GW, and will continue to decline until it reaches 0 GW in 2050, as shown in the graph above.
The decommissioning of coal-fired power plants is planned to be accelerated after 2040.
"After 2040, more fossil fuel-based power plants will be decommissioned and repurposed to be entirely bioenergy-based or ammonia-based (for coal-fired power plants) and hydrogen-based (for gas-fired power plants)," said the JETP Secretariat.
"To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, coal-fired power plants reaching their natural retirement age in the 2050s (10 GW) will have their decommissioning and repurposing accelerated to the 2045-2050 period," it continued.
The JETP Secretariat estimates that Indonesia will require up to US$1.3 billion in investment until 2030 to prepare for the early retirement and phased closure of coal-fired power plants.
All plans contained in this CIPP are still in draft form and are not yet legally binding.
"We are opening the draft JETP investment plan with the hope of gathering as much input as possible from all elements and segments of society," said the Head of the Indonesian JETP Secretariat, Edo Mahendra, in a press release on Wednesday (November 1, 2023).