Indonesia would need funding of about $250 billion to reduce the use of coal-fired power plants enough to meet carbon emission reduction targets, a senior minister said on Thursday.
Suahasil Nazar, the deputy finance minister, said the figure of 3,500 trillion rupiah was beyond the treasury’s capacity. But he hoped enough international support would be offered to meet this financing target.
He said Jakarta would seek help for its climate plan at the COP26 conference in Glasgow this weekend. “We hope that COP26 can be a milestone where international support can be realised,” he told a webinar on Thursday.
Suahasil said Indonesia is committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 29% by 2030 through its own capabilities. But he noted that international support by 2030 would enable the southeast Asian archipelago to reduce GHG emissions by 41%.
He said coal-fired power generation was one of the country’s biggest contributors to emissions. “The majority of our electricity consumption is produced from coal and diesel,” Suahasil said. “We still depend on fossil fuels.”
Last week, the Indonesian government said it would no longer accept proposals for new coal-fired power plants.
However, Rida Mulyana, director general of electricity generation at the energy ministry said the government was still formulating an early retirement programme for the country’s existing coal-fired power plants.
The capacity of fossil fuel power plants is forecast to increase by 19.6 gigawatts, or 48.4% over the next decade. The capacity of renewable energy-based power plants is projected to rise by 20.9 gigawatts, or 51.6%.
• By George Russell.
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