TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia, stated that European countries still use electricity generated from fossil energy such as coal. Bahlil said that this energy source is still widely used in European countries, including Turkey.
"We are the ones who are too modern. But it's okay, it's all about preserving our earth. The important thing is for the subsidies from the state not to be too excessive," he said during the launch of PT PLN's (Persero) Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) for 2025-2034 at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources office, Jakarta, on Monday, May 26, 2025.
Bahlil also revealed that countries that consider themselves superior in the development of renewable energy are actually still requesting new coal contracts in Indonesia. "If they still use coal, why do they force us not to use coal?" said the graduate of the Port Numbay College of Economics, Jayapura.
In the same forum, Bahlil mentioned that the government plans to increase the capacity of power plants by 69.5 gigawatts by 2034. Of the total, 42.6 gigawatts will come from new and renewable energy sources (EBT), 10.3 gigawatts from energy storage systems, and 16.6 gigawatts from fossil energy sources. Fossil energy consists of 10.3 gigawatts of gas and 6.3 gigawatts of coal. "Actually, in my opinion, gas is no longer fossil fuel per se, it's halfway there," said the Chairman of the Golkar Party.
Previously, Bahlil stressed that Indonesia cannot force the shutdown of coal-fired power plants without certainty of funding. Although several financial institutions have promised financing for the early retirement program of these power plants, there has been no concrete realization so far. "We are forced to retire the power plants, who will finance it? We were promised by a donor agency to finance it, but there has been none so far, zero," he said at the Accelerating Indonesia's Economic Growth: Challenges and Opportunities in the New Era forum at The Westin Jakarta on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
Bahlil mentioned that the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) is one of the donor agencies committed to funding the early retirement program of coal-fired power plants. However, he emphasized that energy transition cannot be done without definite funding assurance.
The government, he said, will not allocate state budget funds to finance the early retirement of coal-fired power plants. The government also does not want to burden PLN (Persero) with issuing new bonds. "Do we use state budget funds, or should PLN issue new bonds again to finance it?" said Bahlil.
Dani Aswara contributed to the writing of this article.
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