Jakarta – An energy expert has criticized the government for discouraging the development of renewable energy with the issuance of the latest regulation by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan.
Yunus Daud of the University of Indonesia said Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Regulation (Permen) No 12/2017 on the utilization of renewable energy for electricity had discouraged investors from putting their money in the sector.
He referred to an article in the Permen that stresses that the maximal prices of electricity from renewable energy is 85 percent of the production basic cost. "How would [they] want to invest if there is such a limitation?," Yunus said as reported by tribunnews.com on Friday.
"The state will suffer from losses. It means that progress in renewable energy will be sluggish. It is ironic because initially the wish [of the investors] to develop renewable energy, including geothermal, was quite high," he added.
He expressed doubt over whether the target of 23 percent in contribution from renewable energy to the total national energy demand by 2025 could be achieved if the government went ahead with its current policy. Currently, renewable energy contributes to only about 8 percent of the total energy demand. (bbn)