April 14, 2026 | 11:51 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Chief Executive Officer of PT PLN (Persero), Darmawan Prasodjo, has said Indonesia needs a transmission network spanning around 48,000 kilometers as part of its national energy transition strategy.
He said the infrastructure is essential to address the imbalance between the locations of renewable energy sources and electricity demand centers.
Darmawan explained that the main challenge in developing renewable energy lies in the mismatch between supply and demand. Clean energy sources such as hydropower, solar, and wind are generally located in remote areas, while electricity consumption is concentrated in economic hubs.
“Fossil fuel power plants can be located near demand centers. However, renewable energy sources are often far from consumption areas, requiring a strong transmission network,” he said during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission XII on Monday, April 13, 2026.
To bridge this gap, PLN plans to develop a green enabling supergrid to efficiently transmit electricity from renewable energy sources.
The project is also part of the government’s broader effort to strengthen energy security by reducing dependence on imported energy and shifting toward more sustainable domestic sources.
Darmawan said the plan is outlined in the Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) 2025–2034. During this period, PLN aims to add 69.5 gigawatts of power generation capacity, with around 76 percent coming from new and renewable energy sources.
These include solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower, as well as new energy sources such as an initial 500-megawatt nuclear capacity.
In addition, PLN will develop battery-based energy storage systems. Darmawan noted that the technology has become increasingly cost-efficient due to a significant decline in prices over the past two years, helping support the stability of power supply from intermittent renewable sources.
He added that electricity infrastructure development is now designed to be more measured and demand-driven, with transmission networks, substations, and power plants aligned to actual electricity growth in terms of location, timing, and capacity.
“We ensure that infrastructure development aligns with real needs on the ground, making it more efficient and targeted,” he said.
Since the implementation of the RUPTL, PLN has accelerated project realization. By March 2026, out of 547 priority projects, 353 have entered the procurement stage, 156 are under construction, and 64 have been commissioned and are already operational.
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