Chairman of the Indonesian Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) Fadli Zon wants the government to increase stimulus in the use of renewable energy because the pandemic period can actually be an opportunity to reduce fossil-based energy.
"The government needs to intervene and give extra focus on stimulus so that the EBT industry can survive the crisis," Fadli Zon said in a release on Wednesday.(15/07)
He acknowledged that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) had prepared a number of stimulus such as subsidies for the use of biodiesel and surcharge for solar use, relaxation of commercial operational dates, rescheduling debt payments, and taxation.
In addition, Indonesia also plans to accelerate and decentralize new and renewable energy (EBT) projects in government such as the construction of solar power plants in Government Buildings or fish storage to off-grid solar and micro hydro power plants in a number of regions.
"But that is not enough. The Green Stimulus Index published by vivid economics, a London-based green economy consulting firm, places Indonesia at the bottom of the 16 major economies." According to him, the discussion of the EBT Bill which was the initiative of the DPR and the 2020 legislative priorities could be the entry point for preparing all the arrangements needed for an investment-friendly and sustainable EBT industry.
He argues that a pandemic is a kind of blessing because in a crisis situation like this, there is a new perspective related to the development of EBT because of the reduced use of fossil energy during the pandemic. Moreover, studies from a number of parties also show that in the early months of 2020 reduced global carbon emissions by almost 8 percent compared with the same period the previous year.
Previously, Executive Director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) Fabby Tumiwa said, Indonesia has an estimated energy potential of around 442.4 GW, but to date it has only been utilized by two percent. He said, the renewable energy plant continues to grow, in 2019 there will be an additional 200 GW of renewed energy generating capacity throughout Indonesia. While the potential for renewable energy in Indonesia has not been used optimally due to several obstacles in the field.
These constraints include regulatory and policy, institutional and administrative, market, economic competitiveness, infrastructure and technical uncertainty. This condition was compounded by the existence of a COVID-19 pandemic, so the development of the energy sector was temporarily suspended and the government focused more on handling COVID-19.
While from the energy potential of Indonesia, he continued, solar energy was recorded to be the highest with a potential of 207.8 GW followed by 75 GW water energy, wind energy of 60.6 GW, bioenergy 32.6 GW, geothermal energy 28.5 GW and current the sea is 17.9 GW. Whereas so far, said Fabby, the majority of energy used in Indonesia is supplied from fossil energy, even projected until 2050 based on the National Energy Policy.
Source : antaranews.com